Funny Fungi everywhere

A perfectly formed, but young Fairy Toadstool
The people of Robertson are blessed with an extraordinary outbust of the red Fairy Toadstool every year. This is not something one wishes to do anything other than look at, admire, and have a bit of a childhood fantasy about.

Certainly one does not want to eat them, for the stories of their toxicity are legendary.

But, pretty? Well, I think so.



Toadstool just emerging
covered with the "veil" still
These Toadstools emerge from a sac or "veil", and as their caps grow, the sections of the veil break up, and some drop off, leaving the typical flecked patterns on their caps.

These Fly Agarics (Agaricus muscaria) are very common, as the climate in Robertson seems to suit them, and also the Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) which is the main host plant in this district.

Find a bunch of old pine trees in Robertson, and look underneath them, this week and next, and you will find the Fly Agarics growing there, almost certainly.

This one is unspotted
which is unusual
It is unusual to find such a small (tight) ball-shaped Toadstool without any flecks of the veil on it. It is very pretty, though. So shiny that it is almost reflective.

These fungi have appeared suddenly, following another burst of autumn rain.






Watch out, though, near these Fairy Toadstools.
You may find a photographer or two, lurking somewhere, trying to get that "special shot" !!!






Starfish Fungus
Growing alongside the these Fly Agarics were several small members of the Stinkhorn family of fungi. These are bizarre looking Fungi which are attractive to flies (for they reputedly have a foetid odour). The flies spread the spores of the Fungi.

In the centre of the fungus is a black slimy substance which is where the spores are held.


Aseroe rubra
This one is known as the "starfish fungus" (Aseroe rubra). In this second photo you can see the hollow tube below the head of the fungus. The "starfish" name comes about from the sets of "arms" (in this case six double arms).
These were growing in grass, underneath large pine trees, at the rear of the CTC@Robertson.
These "fruiting bodies" of the fungus are very fragile and delicate, and dry out quickly, so they do not last long, above ground.

Back from Canberra

I am back from Canberra, having spent Friday sitting in one of the big chairs in ward 14A (the Chemo Ward - day patients area), getting pumped full of Mabthera (Rutuximab).

Nothing too scary happened, but I did get itchy ears! I KNOW IT SOUNDS CRAZY, AND TRIVIAL, BUT I HAVE LEARNT THAT NOTHING IS TRIVIAL WHEN IT COMES TO DRUGS LIKE THESE.

Once I mentioned to a nurse that I was having trouble doing up my shirt buttons ( and straight away she said, "Oh, we have to tell the doctors. You have Peripheral Neuropothy***"). Sure enough, she was right, and they changed one of the Chemo drugs, and now 18 months later, the soles of my feet are still partially numb. So, it is just as well I spoke up, and just as well the nurse knew her stuff, or I could have had more serious, more permanent damage.

So, when I notice my ears (and the back of my throat) go itchy, 20 minutes after starting a drip of a dangerous chemical, I tell them! Point is, to me it is an itchy ear. To them it might be the start of a serious allergic reaction. And who knows what that could lead to?

As I said, nothing serious happened, but I still leave nothing to chance, when participating in these kinds of procedures.
They backed off the drug, consulted a Doctor, who gave me some Hydrocortisone (to dampen down the allergic reactions) and resumed the delivery of the drug at a slower rate than before. My body temperature regulation system played up for a few hours - with me shivering, then getting hot. As a result I was wrung out by the end of the day, but I survived the process.

Hopefully the Mabthera Maintenance Program will help knock off any traces of Lymphoma which might be lurking in my system.

*** Peripheral Neuropathy is a form of paralysis of the nerves in the tips of your main joints - hence finger tips and toes. Although it started as funny tingles, and a slight clumsiness in my fine motor skills with my fingers, it has lead to slight damage to the nerves in my feet. That could have resulted in loss of control of my feet, which could easily impact on my ability to walk. So, small sysmpoms, if left un-reported, could lead on to major damage (as the treatment by that particular drug ("Vincristine") would have continued for weeks or months more, if I had not made that innocent comment. That is the point of this story.

Speak up, and let the experts know what is happening inside your body. It is your body, and they don't know unless you tell them. Patients' rights start with you - the individual patient.

Kangaroo Apple - Solanum aviculare

Full shrub
The Kangaroo Apple is a dominant shrub of "disturbed areas" in the rich red basalt soil of Robertson.
In many persons minds it is a weed, almost a nuisance plant.

Despite the name, it is not favoured by Kangaroos, but is named for the shape of the leaf, and the resemblance to the shape of the leaf to the toe structure of the Kangaroo's foot. But that applies only to some leaves - in many cases, the mature leaves are plain ("entire") as in these plants illustrated.
Young bush in flower
I love this plant for its form, for its resilience, for its bright blue flowers in spring and summer, and for the way the birds love its berries in autumn and winter.
Solanum aviculare, as the scientists know it, is described in the Botanic gardens website here. The botanical illustration shows both the entire leaf form, and the lobed form of leaf.


Flower


I can imagine few other shrubs which are so productive of fruit and berries. OK, grasses and small perennials might produce more fruit per plant, but then, if you were to count the berries, and multiply by the number of seeds in the berry which is exposed (half eaten) below, you can see you need to be very patient, and to have a calculator, to begin to estimate the number of potential plants which one mature plant might generate each year. Look at the photo of the "wild" plant below, which appears to be dying, presumably from exhaustion, from carrying so many fruit.


Shrub as viewed from
my bedroom window
I love to watch the Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) zooming in and out of this particular plant in Autumn, when it is heavy with ripe fruit. They just seem to keep coming and going much of the day. Mostly the green birds, of course, but that is a comment upon the ratio of "blue birds" to the greens, in the Bowerbird population. That is to do with the fact that the immature males keep the green plumage until they reach sexual maturity, perhaps only in their fifth to seventh year (apparently). The "Birds in Backyards" website has a good page on this species (see link above). It even has an MP3 file for the call, although it is not particularly clear in its call. (Scroll all the way down the birds in backyard page, looking on the right hand side)

Single Berry
While you are in the mood, why not browse the entire "Birds in Backyards" list (ordered alphabetically by first name - hence S for Satin Bowerbird). It has some excellent pages for relatively common birds.

This is a close-up of the single fruit (a "berry").







Half-eaten berry -
numerous seeds inside
See the numerous seeds visible inside this half-eaten berry. Tiny little seeds, like grains of sand almost, inside a reddish pulp. I have gingerly tasted these berries, and find them not very appetising. As they are related to tomatoes, and chillis people often ask if they were "bush tucker" for Aborigines, but it seems not.
The Russians have developed a pharmaceutical industry based upon the cultivation of this plant for production of hormones and steroids. So, in general the consumption of the fruit is advised against.




Hugely productive plant
but dropping its leaves
I wonder if this plant, which is a self-sown seedling growing beside my fence, is so productive that it is literally killing itself with its production of fruit? This plant is losing most of its leaves.
I have given up trying to count the number of berries on this plant, but there are about 7 berries per bunch of fruit, on average.
Another thing which often kills these plants is that they are a host plant to grubs of certain moths, which grow inside the stems. In turn, the Black Cockatoos often come in and chew the trunks of these plants, to get at the large grubs inside, thus killing the plants, or destroying their shape.

When a plant has been as productive as this, in just 3 years, why not grow fast, be productive and then curl up one's toes? It seems fair to me.

Stockyard Swamp - out on the Illawarra Plateau

Stockyard Swamp and
Molly Morgan's Crossing
Here is a photo of Stockyard Swamp, out on the Illawarra Plateau. The photo was taken recently from Jim Foran's plane. Thanks, Jim for the flight.

There is more to be told about this flight and the things we saw, but now is not the time.


North Pole Swamp
I have been told by Jeff Jeanes, a botanist in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and the National Herbarium of Victoria, that the Kangaloon Sun Orchid (Thelymitra kangaloonica) (which he has recently described) was first collected from "Molly Morgan's Swamp" in 1969 by B Whitehead. "Molly Morgan's Crossing" is the point beside Stockyard Swamp where there is a small creek crossing. It is visible in the top photo, on the left of the picture.

The second photo is of North Pole Swamp, which is adjacent to Stockyard Swamp. The third photo is of Butler's Swamp. All are classed as "Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone", and meet the definitions of that class of Endangered Ecological Communities - as listed on the Federal EPBC Act.
Butler's Swamp
(click to enlarge to view notes)
This species of Orchid, was subsequently collected at Butler's Swamp by David Jones of the Australian National Herbarium, in CSIRO, Canberra. Butler's Swamp is the "type locality" for this species. It has only been recorded from Stockyard Swamp, Butler's Swamp and from Fitzroy Falls (probably the now flooded Wildes Meadow Swamp at the top of the Fitzroy Falls Reservoir).

Hopefully we can get this plant listed on the Federal EPBC Act, as an endangered species, in view of the threat to its habitat posed by the SCA's Kangaloon Borefield proposal.

Thanks for not being too offended.

Judging by comments received from friends, my previous posting was not regarded by too many people as "offensive". Maybe in bad taste, but you would not be surprised by that!

Mostly people just made comments along these lines (from Gill):
Typical male....always overemphasising one's attributes and the significance of them!
Fair comment, I reckon.

Oh well, I did at least acknowledge an element of "bravura" in posting those photos.

*****

Here is something nicer to contemplate: The Peacock (Pavo cristatus) from Ranelagh House, Robertson, (when not engaged in posing for their website) has taken to visiting George every morning. I would have to say that he is very spectacular, even in half-moult, without his full display feathers, which are just growing back. His tail feathers are fully grown, but they are plain coloured. The display feathers (the ones with the "eyes" in them) appear to come from low down on his back, just above the true tail feathers. Presumably that means they would be called the "upper tail-coverts", so although we think of him spreading his tail feathers, technically that is not correct.

George sent me this photo today, so I trust that he is happy to see it published. I took some photos of this bird a few days ago, but it did not pose for me the way it did for George.

This bird has no road sense, but he compensates by having great road "presence" - he stands still, in the middle of Fountaindale Rd, until cars stop for him. At that point he strolls off to the side. I would not recommend him trying that strategy up on the Illawarra Highway, but it seems safe enough on the side road.

I am sure George and his neighbours will be less than impressed with this fellow's visits, in breeding season, when he starts crowing, early in the morning - for the call of a Peacock is something which carries for hundreds of metres. Currently his visits are silent.

Doctor, I think I have a problem ....

Doctor, I think
I have a problem....
Here are a couple of little (big) joke photos. Thanks to David Young for taking the photos, (though he advised me not to blog them). Sorry David!

I collected these Bunya Pine cones on the way back from Canberra the other day. They had fallen (as they do) from a huge tree in Sutton Forest, which I have been watching for the last 9 months, as the cones were developing. They are so large that one can easily see them in the canopy of the tree (if you know what to look for). So, I was expecting to see some fallen cones one day, and sure enough there were several outside the fence when I drove past on Thursday.

These wonderful Pine cones come from the native conifer called Araucaria bidwillii, a magnificent specimen tree, much favourited by early colonial gardeners in Australia. It is a truly ancient tree, as demonstrated by the fact that closely related trees from New Caledonia were used to illustrate the BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs" TV program made in 1999.

These trees are very important to Aboriginal people, especially in their natural area of the Bunya Mountains, north of the Darling Downs, in Queensland. But I am also assured that wherever they are now grown, in Australia, they are regarded as special trees.
The cones contain many large seeds which apparently make good "bush tucker".

This second photo shows the casing of the seed, which is about the size of a large almond, inside this casing. Sometimes they are much fatter than this particular specimen.



Anyway, back to the reason for my trip to Canberra. I had been there to get a report on my recent tests for Lymphoma.

Reasonably good news. The big old tumour is pronounced dead ("Scar tissue" or "calcified") which is just fine with me. It can sit there as scar tissue, maybe for ever. I have other "scar tissue" from 10 year old surgery, followed by radiation treatment which "cooked it", and it is not causing me any problems at all.

There is still some evidence of uptake of the radioactive trace (from the PET test), but no evidence of the formation of tumours (nothing visible on a CT Scan anyway). However, in view of the uptake, (the possibility of some Lymphoma cell activity) they have proposed putting me on a Mabthera maintenance therapy program. Every three months, I will have a dose of this drug, which specifically targets Lymphoma cells. Well that's the proposal, obviously subject to review.

Apparently Mabthera does not have the side effects of the regular cytotoxic drugs which they use in general chemotherapy (although this site does report some nasty side effects of Mabthera). I have had this drug before, but only as part of a cocktail of other drugs "CHOP (R)" it was called. The R stands for Rutuximab, which is the official name for Mabthera (a brand name).
I will find out in the near future how it affects me, by itself anyway, as I am scheduled for my first dose late next week. So, this photo is to give a "brave face" to my future.
And they said I didn't have the .... ?

And David, now you know why I wanted these specific photos taken!

David Young's Fungi photos

Things you find
in the Forest!
A few days ago, I accompanied local Robertson photographer (and blogger), David Young into the Robertson nature Reserve.
I had previously told David about some of the recent "finds" of weird fungi which we had found when we went with Roy Freere.


Today I have the pleasure of publishing some of David's photographs which he took on that visit. He has already published these, and more, on his own blog, (click here for the specific link), but I am happy to spread the word on my blog site.
David is an excellent photographer, and enjoys taking photos of these strange, exotic creatures which inhabit the Robertson Nature Reserve.


Close up of these minute
"Spire fungi"???
What was not immediately obvious in the shot above was that the rotting stump I was standing beside had the top one third covered in these minute stalactite-like fungi. (Click on this image, for a better view.) From what I can work out they are probably in the group known as "Spire Fungi" (but I stand to be corrected). Each little "stalactite" was less than 3 mm long - tiny - so much so that they initially just looked like pale cream fuzz on the stem of the old tree trunk.
This one is a Black Cup Fungus, a far nicer specimen than one I photographed the week before.










I had previously referred to these as "feather fungi" - a name of no scientific standing, but fairly descriptive. They might be related to Pterula. aff. stipata but I am far from certain about that identification.
To me they look like the kinds of soft coral one finds in rock pools along the coast. Strange and beautiful. These little "feathers" are relatively firm, but not brittle. Click on these images to enlarge them.

All these beautiful creature reinforce my sense of Wonder, at all the things there are in the world which we humans barely know enough of to name and describe, let alone understand how they function, and reproduce.

To me, a visit to the Robertson nature Reserve is a constant reminder of our place on the Earth - we are only here until the Fungi take over.

*****

Fungal scientists (Mycologists) are still puzzled by the evolutionary relationships of vast groups of fungi, and where odd specimens such as these fit into the overall picure.

To learn some more about Australian Fungi, go to the Fungi Map (old) website with 100 "target species" which the organisers wish people to report back on "sightings". http://fungimap.rbg.vic.gov.au/fsp/fsp.html
And then there is the general Fungimap site which has information about books which one can buy, etc. http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/fungimap_/welcome

*****

Thanks once again to David Young for permission to use his photographs.

More Ground Orchids

Today I saw an Orchid which was new to me. Clearly it is not rare, just it takes a lot of finding. Partly the trick is being in the right place, and at the right time. I have walked this area (on Kirkland Road, Kangaloon) hundreds of times before (well, some exaggeration, perhaps), but it is one of my regular spots in Springtime.

I have seen leaves of this plant (at left) before, without knowing what plant I was looking at. In fact I thought they might have been a little pink Lily-like flower called Schelhammera undulata which has a slightly similar leaf.

Well, today I realised that these leaves belonged to an Orchid called Turtle Orchid (what an awful name).





It is in a group of "Wasp Orchids", because of the relationship with a particular wasp which pollinates these Orchids, supposedly because of the resemblance of the glands on the "labellum" to the body of a wingless female wasp.

The official name is Chiloglottis seminuda.
These plants were growing on deep sandstone soil, in a damp forest, of tall Eucalypts. I am not exactly sure of the classification of this forest type.




The structure of the lip ("Labellum") is quite extraordinary, as it resembles an insect quite closely. Personally it looks to me like an ant has climbed onto the flower, but the name Ant Orchid has been allocated to another, related, group of Orchids, so that name cannot be used for this plant. But why Turtle Orchid?
Click on the image for a closer look.






Another Ground Orchid which I saw in a different area, two weeks ago, is the Dark Mosquito Orchid, Acianthus exsertus.

These Orchids have leaves which look quite a lot like the Helmet Orchids which I spoke about yesterday, but these are very dark reddish purple below. There were fewer of these Orchids here than in the other place where I saw them before, on Tourist Road. Clearly they are happy in shaded areas, in forest. Being small plants, with dark flowers, and very well camouflaged, they take a bit of finding.

Helmet Orchids

Last week I reported that David Jones, from the CSIRO's Australian National Herbarium, had told me that the small Helmet Orchids I had found were the relatively common Corybas aconitiflorus, but with small and as yet undeveloped flowers. This week comes the proof.

This developed flower is still very small, (less than 10 mm from front to back) and it is growing on a particularly small leaf, a mere 13 mm long.

None the less, it is considerably developed from the small flower of which I published a photo last week (and the week before).
Those photos did not have a scale, but today's photos do.


Forgive the slight parallax error problems. You can see that the undeveloped flowers are still only 6 mm long, and are very narrow, at a mere 2 mm wide.

It is the width which changes most as the flower matures. I shall go back again, over the next few days and measure a number of plants with a vernier caliper, to get precise measurements, which I shall pass on to David Jones. The point is that these flowers are still small compared to the standard measure for this species. As such, it is worth recording their size somewhere.

On the weekend, I went to 7 Mile Beach, just south from Gerroa, north-east from Nowra. While in the Littoral Rainforest there, I saw literally thousands of a type of Mosquito Orchid growing so densely on the ground that their leaves almost formed a carpet below the long grasses. Unfortunately those plants were not yet in flower. They had buds, half grown, but they were obviously different to the Dark Mosquito Orchids which I had found on Tourist Road at the end of March. They were definitely of the same genus, however.

Black Cockatoos shred the Pine Cones

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos ("Black Cockies") (Calyptorhynchus funereus) have been having a lot of fun shredding Pine Cones recently, in the Robertson district.

Presumably this is a fact related to the ripeness of the seeds in the local Pine Cones.


Their efforts are clearly visible underneath pine trees in the local district, in the form of chips of pine cones strewn underneath the trees. Of course, the birds spread the seeds of the Pines, which are slowly becoming a weed in the Robertson Area. But we can hardly blame the Cockies, can we?



These weird and wonderful birds have a very distinctive slow-beating flight, as is apparent in these three frames of a Black Cocky flying in (there is little "blur" in the wings). She was flying in, to join her mates in a Pine Tree (Pinus radiata) outside the local CTC, in Robertson.

This last "flight" shot shows the bird gliding in to land in the Pine Tree.

Female (left) and male (right)
beak colour comparisons.
The female bird has brown skin around the eye, not pink, as in males; also a white top beak - males have a black upper mandible.
Click on the images, to enlarge.
Have a look at the photos and the article about them in Birds in Backyards.






She is just starting to shred this pine cone. She had previously "picked" the cone very neatly from a cluster of cones out on a growing tip of a branch. She then carried it (flying) to a broader branch where she could attack it conveniently.

I tried to catch the bird carrying the cone in her beak, but the movement was so sudden that all I got was a blur of wings and tail.





Quite literally, she shredded the entire cone in about 10 minutes.

The yellow under-tail feathers are clearly visble in this photo. These feathers are very obviously yellow when the tail is spread as the birds take off and land.

Is it an urban myth that Cockies are predominantly left handed?
This one certainly is. Many do seem to use their left foot to hold food.

Burrawang does it again!

"Autumn Arias" in Burrawang was a spectacular success.
The performers enjoyed themselves, especially in the afternoon, I felt. Perhaps it felt more like a rehearsal to them? No matter. They were very well received in the evening performance too.

The Burrawang School of Art Hall was filled, twice over - in the afternoon and again in the evening.

Roger Press was especially good as "host" for the performances, where he gave introductions to the various artists and the individual pieces which they were about to perform - I certainly appreciated these introductions to each piece.

*****

Not only was Roger the "host" on the day, but he also put together the entire project, with the help of the conductor Simon Kenway. But as for the co-ordination of the event at the local level, that was the responsibility of the Burrawang Concert Committee, Katherine Wood, Geoff Stewart, Virginia Stewart, Annie Jones, Cherie Munden, Sue Barnes and Derryn Rowlands.

Great music, beautifully performed by singers and orchestra. And greatly appreciated by the audiences of local people, mostly from Burrawang, but also from Robertson, and Kangaloon.


The big question is:

WHAT IS BURRAWANG GOING TO DO NEXT WEEK?

The program schedule and CV notes on the conductor, the singers are below.
You might need to click on those notes, to make them legible on the screen.

Gaylene Parker - the WIRES wombat lady

Gaylene Parker was a guest speaker at REPS tonight, and she packed the house.
This lady is something of a household name in the Southern Highlands as the principal foster carer for rescued Wombats in this area.

She was featured in an ABC Australian Story which was aired in 2002. That story was based around James Woodford's story "The Secret Life of Wombats", which featured the story of P.J. Nicholson, who as a schoolboy had "researched" Wombats by climbing down their burrows. Gaylene does not recommend that as an approach to Wombats.

However, there is little she does not know about how to care for sick, injured or orphaned Wombats. She has apparently rehabilitated 500 wombats.

You can read more about the life of Wombats on the ABC's Scribbly Gum (ABC Science Unit) website.

*****

If you find a dead Wombat, and discover that it is a female with a joey in the pouch, the safest and best thing to do is to ring WIRES Wingecarribee. The number is 4862 1788.

The tiny little "pinkies" - young Wombat joeys which have not yet formed fur, are extremely delicate creatures, and are temperature sensitive, and if they are removed from the pouch, they can be damaged by abrupt removal from the teat of the mother, and as they cannot regulate their own temperature, they can be subject to heat loss, and/or shock. Best to get expert advice and help.

Of course, you need to be able to describe exactly where the dead Wombat mother is located, or preferably be able to guide the rescuer to the site. "Somewhere along the left of Tourist Road" is not precise enough.

More Fungi photos - from Peter Donaldson

Spider in rolled leaf
(at top of web).
Note pool of water in web.
Peter Donaldson has sent me some of his wonderful photos from yesterday's tour of the Robertson Nature Reserve.

Fungi shots, plus this amazing spider-web shot, with a tiny pond of fluid trapped in the spider's web.
Sound unbelievable? Click on image to enlarge.

One of those photos you just wish you had taken yourself!

Jelly Fungus -
Maybe Tremella mesenterica









Juvenile fungus -
note thick stem









Possible Mycena type
A romantic photo - wonderful contrast between the moss on the tree trunks and the pure white fungus.








Another Mycena type?
Note the apparent fringing of the cap. It might be a trace of the veil structure from which this fungus has emerged.

Fungus Tour of the Robertson Rainforest

Lots of photos, and not much commentary today.
23 people turned up today for a fun "Discovery Tour" of fungi of the Robertson Nature Reserve. We started with a discussion of the fact that the Nature Reserve has the status of a National Park, and so we were to examine and photograph fungi "in situ". Roy Freere, our leader for the day has a permit to collect scientifically interesting specimens, and we took a few unusual specimens back to the CTC to examine, and photograph. Roy and Joan will submit details of the more unusual ones to the Sydney Fungal Studies Group for precise identification, or recording of un-named species.
Thanks to Penny for coffees at the CTC, afterwards.
Ear Fungus
Auricularia sp.
My Fungi book is not with me, today, so I have used "descriptive names", in other words, my own made up names, until I can get
correct names. Please bear with me. I shall try to add correct names as and when I can.
Please come back to the site in a couple of days for proper names.



"Feather Fungus"
Pterula sp?
About 4 Cm high and wide. There were thousands of fine, stiff almost "starfish" shaped structures on a dead log. Imagine these structures, minus the frilly bits - just with straight "arms".
Those "plain" forms resemble Pterula. aff. stipata, but whether these much more elaborate ones are the same, or not, I cannot judge.
These elaborate shapes are stiff, like dry feathers.
Something one might expect to find as "soft coral" on a tropical coral reef, under water.
3 "Oyster" shaped Fungi
with different gill structures
Possible identifications:
Left - Pseudohydnum gelatinosum???
Centre - Pleurotopsis longinqua (formerly Panellus longinquus)




"Eye-lash"fungi -
tiny orange cup,
with a fringe of minute hairs.
Scutellinia scutellata
Less than 1 cm across, this orange coloured flat-cup has minite hairs around its edge. That's why I have referred to it as an Eye-lash" fungus. It is illustrated in my book, so I will get its correct name tomorrow. Click to enlarge.
One of the advantages of an unusual shape, is that it makes identification more likely.


Black "Cup Fungus"
Maybe a Plectania sp.
Approximately 5 Cm across. Black leathery structure, with distinct matt surface. Cup shaped. Slightly leathery edge. Most Cup Fungi appear to have shiny inner surfaces, but this one does not.




"Spire Fungi" (???)
Tiny little spires, with almost a "honeycomb" structure, it seems. Growing on a wet, rotten branch on the ground.
Size: approx 1.5cm high.
This one seems likely to be a "mystery fungus".




Possibly a Mycena.
Rusty brown cap, not shiny. Very strongly patterned gill structure. Dark brown stem.










A "Slime Mould"?
Click on this to enlarge. Brown rod-like structures with a covering of white spores, presumably.
Size: approx half a centimetre high.





Lime green Mycena?
I would love to know if this one is luminous. It certainly looks like it might glow in the dark. It has an unusual shade of lime green.






"Oyster" fungus with
teeth-like "gills"
Pseudohydnum gelatinosum ???
(see photo 3 above)
Click to see full sized image.
Not a conventional gill, nor a pored structure.