Fly Agarics in Carwoola

Do not eat anything that looks like these!

 Before getting to the Toadstools I will put in a link to a very useful page about fungus poisoning by the Victorian Department of Health http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Fungi_poisoning?open

I will also say thanks for the consideration by a passing motorist who saw my bike laid on the ground and myself slumped nearby and stopped to administer what aid was needed.  She seemed a little bewildered by 'photographing toadstools" as an explanation but accepted I was OK.  I did thank her profusely, as she deserved.

Following on from Denis Wilson's post about the appearance of Fly Agarics (Amanita muscaria) in the Southern Highlands I have been keeping my eyes open around here.  This morning I was out for a run and noticed a reasonable crop under some pine trees on Widgiewa Rd Carwoola (close to Captains Flat Rd).

I returned with my camera to take some photos and to do a rough count of the number of fruiting bodies around.  I counted about 100 fruiting bodies along the roadside.  Not all of them have the white speckles, which are the remains of a white veil which covers the toadstool while first growing).  This is a very fresh specimen.

These are distinctly past their use-by date, but demonstrates that the red colour isn't always there!

This is my favourite shot: nice colour, nice shape and good contrast with the grass.

This one was also in the grass.

This was easy to spot out on the verge.  Note the line of pines in the background.

On April 5 we found a colony on our place: again under pines.  For such lurid organisms I was surprised to work out I must have gone past them atleast 6 times without noticing.