There are millions of different species of fungi (or funguses; both are correct), but only a small fraction of those have been identified, described, and named. The naming seems to be the most hilarious part of identifying a fungus. Scientists give them proper Latin species names, but mushrooms, the kind of fungus we are most familiar with, are given common names by regular people that usually have something to do with the way they look. That's how we got funguses that are named black witch's butter, bleeding tooth, dung cannon, octopus stinkhorn, chicken of the woods, and the lovely gem-studded puffball. My mistake- chicken of the woods is named for the way it tastes. Guess which of these is pictured above.
The name of the dung cannon fungus (Pilobolus crystallinus) is intriguing. It's called cannon because it launches its spores at an astonishing speed, but why dung? A little digging reveals that the spores are ingested by animals who eat plants, and the fungus grows in their digestive systems, soon to be expelled. It's just one of 15 really strange funguses you can read about at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Bernypisa)