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.

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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

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