More fungal excitement!

After yesterday's (3 June) find of Fly Agarics we were being taken for a walk by the small dog this morning when Frances spotted a clump of Earthstars.  As I didn't have the camera with me I returned a tad later and got a few pix.

On referring to a Field Guide to Australian Fungi by Bruce Fuhrer I have identified them as Geastrum Triplex. The total colony was an area 2m x 0.8m with 7 fruiting bodies in one clump and (on my count) 23 in the main portion.  If anyone else comes up with a different count for the main colony - image above - please let me know.
This image shows a pair of fruiting bodies nestled together, clearly showing the pointed segments of the outer skin.
To some extent this is a repeat of the previous image but the fruiting bodies are not so compressed.  My estimate is that they were about 70mms across the 'star'.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Nice Earth Stars.
Fuhrer is "brave" with some of his species IDs.
Others not so brave. Geastrum certainly.
I like the look of them, anyway.
Cheers
Denis
5 June 2010 at 21:18:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
It appears to me that as soon as one moves away from vertebrates and flowering plants most species ID are pretty much a matter of conjecture.

A great pity that the taxonomists don't leave birds and orchids alone and apply their minds and DNA sequencers to other parts of the natural world.
6 June 2010 at 07:20:00 GMT+10
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