The land is infested with Prickly Acacia/Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and is pocked with Chinese mine holes, part of Victoria's goldrush during in the 19th and early 20th Century. (The Chinese dug round holes, Caucasians dug the square/rectangular ones!)
Eventually, the Prickly Acacia will be cleaned up. It is a target weed up here.
(Click to enlarge images)
The above photo was kind to the area. Not only is it scarred by non-rehabilitated mining holes, it's also suffered as a dumping place for people's rubbish over the years.
Now to the fungi!
I had no idea what I had here, until I uploaded the photos!
These minute dots on the forest litter turned out to be "Birds-nest"
fungi. I couldn't believe my eyes when I reviewed the images.
It pays to photograph any blob you think looks like a fungus.
Crucibulum laeve, I think.
The spores are dispersed by water and if you look in the
top right-hand corner of this photo, you can see 2 empty
cups just under the dead Eucalypt leaf.
This fungus was stunning. I have no idea what it is.
I only noticed it when I looked up after I'd finished with
the Bird's-nests.
Cap width: 1.4cm
Height: 4cm
Gills: Greenish.
(Homework required!)
Update: It's possible this fungus is Hygrocybe sp.
(Possibly H. arcohastata which changes colour from a purple-green to red as it matures.)
According to Fuhrer, this is an uncommon species and on that note, I am more than
likely incorrect!
Cap width: 7mm
I'm not sure about these but they look a bit
like "Jelly Babies". They might not be Leota sp.
I'd need expert opinion here, I think.
Diameter: About 7mm.
Correction to my previous ID.
More likely to be Discinella terrestris.
(Memo to Mosura: Yep, I was wrong. Got a bit overheated just finding them, I suspect! :-) )
This shot shows three.
(OMG - on checking the above photo, I think I've
missed another 'unusual' fungus! Just beneath the
top orange fungus is something with what appears
to be hairs on the cap!)
Lovely liver chestnut coloured fungi.
Cap width: 2.5cm
Height: 1cm
(Homework required!)
Umbo.
Cap width: 2.5cm
Height: 2cm
Gills: Rust colour
Stalk: White to darkish brown on older specimens.
(Homework required!)
5 comments:
I may soon be the last person on earth to have never found a birds nest fungus.
Regarding Jelly Bells, as I understand it they only grow on stick and logs. Yours appear to be in soil.
Mosura, the Bird's nests I found were tiny, looking more like rusts on dead vegetation.
According to Fuhrer, twigs and logs for the Jelly Bells. I could have incorrectly identified them, but Golden jelly-bells are the only thing that appears to match.
Probvided the weather holds out, I'll be going back to the location again today! :-)
I'm glad someone else finds so many fungi they can't quite identify. Good collection! Oh, and I've not found Birds Nest Fungi.
They are difficult to correctly identify, Mark, especially when you're not an experienced mycologist, like me! The joy of finding something you haven't seen before is spectacular, and research is part of the chase, even if we bomb out most times! :-)
Oh yeah - I reckon that looks more like it.
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