Bill Leithhead's Web Site
Fungi Photos
Group 3
|
[ Main Photography Menu ] [ Next Group of Fungi Photos ] [ Back to Home Page ] [Email me]
Each thumbnail image links to a higher resolution image.
|
These white blobs growing on the end of a rotting log deep amongst the fern-forest caught my eye. I particularly like the circular shape of the young one near the top. As they grow, the lower edge forms a blunt ledge, and the top develops a zone of dark red-brown hair. Unfortunately I can't relate it very well to the examples in my sources, so it remains unidentified. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Tarra Valley, South Gippsland, March, 2003.
|
|
This is a close-up of the site shown above, with the dark red-brown hairy upper surface showing the drops of liquid which sometimes form on polypores. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Tarra valley, South Gippsland, March, 2003.
|
|
Although this fine bracket fungus has clear-cut features, I haven't been able to give it a name reliably. I'd be glad of any suggestions Photo by Bill Leithhead, in a small park beneath the TV towers serving Melbourne, Mt Dandenong, May, 2003.
|
|
I spotted these growing in the mulch in a newly-landscaped garden at a nursing home at Baxter, near Frankston, where my 100-year old mother lives. It fits the genus Psilocybe, with dark spores, dark-brown gills and a tough stem which stains bluish on bruising. Many of the Psilocybe and related genera contain the well-known hallucinogenic substance psilocybin. I haven't tried them, I swear: not my scene! Direct scan by Bill Leithhead, from Baptist Village Nursing Home, Baxter, Victoria, June, 2003.
|
|
These brackets of the common polypore Pycnoporus coccineus show the clear-cut spoon shape. They can last a long time, and often become bleached with age, which accounts for the one on the left. Or it could be a different fungus altogether - I should have paid more attention to the underneath colour! Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, east of Melbourne, June, 2003.
|
|
From the left, these quite common uniquely Australian fungi are Amanita ochrophylla and Amanita umbrinella. They were growing near the entrance to Rawson Caravan Park in the grass near the bush. The A. ochrophylla is one of the larger fungi we have, bigger than 35cm, with a bulbous base; the other is smaller, with a satin-like sheen to the cap, which has little warts on it. The ring is striated. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Caravan Park, Rawson, north of Moe in Victoria, May, 2003.
|
|
From top left, Paxillus infundibuliformis; then Cortinarius archeri (purple top), white veil still covering volva up to the cap edge (perky little thing!); another Paxillus; far right is Russula clelandii (violet cap, brittle flesh); reddish-topped Russula persanguinea (?); lower centre are green young Cortinarius austraveneta. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Rawson Caravan Park grounds, central Gippsland, May, 2003.
|
|
Most likely a Scleroderma species, this puffball specimen shows how the outer skin (peridium) erodes to reveal the grey internal spore mass (gleba)which is then gradually dispersed by wind, rain, animals and insects. A subtle colour combination, don't you think? Photo by Bill Leithhead, Mt Dandenong, overlooking Melbourne, June, 2003.
|
|
This unusually-shaped bracket fungus was growing on a log. It has a strangely layered appearance, and the underneath can be seen in the next picture. There is a tangle of reddish-brown hair fibrils at the base of the bracket, at the point of attachment. I cannot identify this fungus: it resembles several, such as Stereum hirsutum, but I have insufficient information. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, July, 2003.
|
|
As above, viewed underneath.
|
|
These cute little examples of the growth of bracket fungi were growing on a rotting log. it could be Stereum rugosum. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, Victoria, July, 2003.
|
|
i'm afraid this is yet another unidentified bracket fungus. It's different from the above few examples because it has a toasted or caramellized appearance, but with light-coloured pores underneath. It also exudes droplets of liquid as it grows. But it has a similar growth habit to the above, growing firstly as a flat piece which then grow its upper part outwards to form the spore-dispersing horizontal layer of fine pores. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest again, July, 2003.
|
|
This is a close-up of the fruiting body in the centre of the above photo, zoomed in by the computer, but with some loss of clarity. to show the little droplets of fluid exuded from the inside surface. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, July, 2003.
|
|
Possibly an example of a slime mould, which are different from but related to the larger fungi. These are different from both fungi and bacteria. They do not form larger fruiting bodies, but masses of slimy or crustose tissue, often coloured. They are distinguished by motility; the hyphae are motile, and form a plasmodium which spreads around under it's own motion. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, July, 2003.
|
|
Stereum rugosum is a common bracket fungus on rotting wood; it is found around the world. Note the very lightly-coloured margin with a dark reddish-brown furry top on the bracket. The word rugosum means "wrinkled", as can be seen from the 'rugulose' edge. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, July, 2003.
|
|
Tremella fuciformis is a common jelly fungus found on rotting wood. The spores are produced on the surface of the wrinkled jelly. It dries out to almost nothing, and is often associated with a black wood-destroying fungus called a Hypoxylon: the jelly fungus feeds on the breakdown products from that. Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, June, 2003.
|
|
Tremella mesenterica is a conspicuous jelly fungus found on dead wood, and thought to be allied with bracket fungi growing on the same substrate: the hyphae are intertwined. The word "mesenter" refers to the intestinally-wrinkled or brain-like look. It dries to a harder, slightly shrunken mass.The colour varies from pale yellow to deep orange, and it is often associated with banksias. There is a species in WA called T. aurantia, differing in microscopic features. Photo by Bill Leithhead, south of Hall's Gap in the Grampians, Victoria, September, 2002.
|
|
Xerula radicata, formerly Oudemansiella radicata syn Collybia radicata is a distinctive fungus in the forest and woods. Also called the Rooting Shank Fungus, it often has a root into the soil, perhaps attached to rotting wood. There is a variant called Xerula australis or X. radicata var australis, differing in microscopic features. Beyond that, I'm a bit confused! Photo by Bill Leithhead, Sherbrooke Forest, June, 2003.
|
[ Main Photography Menu ] [ Next Group of Fungi Photos ] [ Back to Home Page ] [Email me]
|
