Warm weather heats up the fungi
While we had found quite a good range of fungi in other spots the last few weeks have been relatively quiet for fungi on our property. The weather has warmed up quite noticeably and been quite humid in the last few days. This resulted in a very large haul of field mushrooms (yum yum) on 10 November as well as causing a few other species to stick their heads - or rather fruiting bodies - out of the ground..
In what follows I have used # to indicate a Fungimap target species.
The lichenised Omphalina chromacea# is everywhere on the property (and indeed everywhere in the Southern Highlands) at present. On looking at my field guide it appears there is another member of this genus which is rather similar, but browner and small: I foresee some dirty knees from checking this out!
We have also found a few Rooting Shanks (Oudemansiella radicata#) in the upper parts of the block.
I have also provisionally identified some Fairy-ring champignons (Marasmius oreades) although they seem to be the fungal equivalent of 'small brown birds, with next to no distinguishing features). I did get a nice spore from them, as shown in this composite image.
Some nice umbrella shaped fungi were found but not really identified beyond a designation of Mycena sp. Another variant on the theme of "fungal thornbill"!
The most exciting find thus far was when Frances spotted a Vermillion grizette (Amanita xanthocephala#) close to the location where we find a lot of orchids. This is rather like a mini (about 40mm across the cap) Fly Agaric. (If the large image - click this one - is examined the distinctive grooves can be readily seen.)
I have put up a post in the past about a monster bolete seen in the upper reaches of the block. It has re-emerged. My field describes Phlebopus marginatus as ".. probably Australia's largest terrestrial fungus ..." so I think this is that. A snap follows, including a (small) dog to give a scale.
The linked post includes some images of the underside (I didn't have my mirror with me on this day).
In what follows I have used # to indicate a Fungimap target species.
The lichenised Omphalina chromacea# is everywhere on the property (and indeed everywhere in the Southern Highlands) at present. On looking at my field guide it appears there is another member of this genus which is rather similar, but browner and small: I foresee some dirty knees from checking this out!
We have also found a few Rooting Shanks (Oudemansiella radicata#) in the upper parts of the block.
The most exciting find thus far was when Frances spotted a Vermillion grizette (Amanita xanthocephala#) close to the location where we find a lot of orchids. This is rather like a mini (about 40mm across the cap) Fly Agaric. (If the large image - click this one - is examined the distinctive grooves can be readily seen.)
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