Environmental pathogens adapt to several conditions to switch from their ecological niche to their mammalian host. Phenotypic diversity is key to this transition and to facilitate spread to different host sites. The pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, which is environmentally associated with trees and bird guano, enters the human lung and then disseminates to the brain causing meningitis. Evidence shows that C. neoformans populations found in the brain are homogeneous and small, but the phenotypic changes that lead to its extrapulmonary spread remain unclear. In a recent study, Denham and colleagues characterize an inducible cryptococcal morphotype that is critical for extrapulmonary organ entry.