Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Winter Fungi

Robertson has had a huge amount of rain recently (as regular readers would know). But it has also been very cold, which is often thought to not favour Fungi producing their "fruiting bodies". I went out on Friday to see if there was any new sprouting of fungi. I did not see a lot of fungal activity, but there were some, and they were varieties unfamiliar to me.
Two Limacella (?) fungi
This first one might be a species of Limacella - based upon an image of a similar looking Fungus in Bruce Fuhrer's Field Guide to Australian Fungi. I could not find any images on the Sydney Fungal Studies Group, or on the FungiNet site.

The creamy coloured caps were very smooth, as was its stem. There was no "ring" visible on the stem. The gills were coloured pale greyish-cream.

Consequently, this "naming" is based only on very coarse resemblance, not a detailed analysis of characteristic features, as I was unable to find any detailed references.




"Chestnut fungus"
This is an unidentified Fungus, which had a dark brown, glossy cap which resembled the coating of a Chestnut.








Sulphur- yellow gills and stem
Underneath, this fungus had distinctive sulphur-yellow gills, and the stem was the same colour (internally). The outside of the stem was stained dark brown, presumably from dropped spores, so I conclude that its spores are dark brown.





"Cobra Greenhood"
There were several flowers remaining on a group of "Cobra Greenhoods" (Diplodium grandiflorum) in a colony which I knew of from previous visits to this site. Clearly they are on the end of their flowering cycle.

Elsewhere in this patch of forest, I know that there are a few of the Tall Greenhoods (Bunochilus longifolius) still in flower, but I did not see any in this little patch of forest, on Friday.
Apart from these, the local Orchids all seem to be either dormant, or not flowering at present.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Denis, a couple of nice fungi there, particularly the smooth brown one with yellow gills. I, also, have no idea as to identification.

Your 'Cobra Greenhood' is a beauty, and it is obvious as to how it received its common name. This is another Greenhood that I have not seen, so I have particularly enjoyed your finds.

Gaye

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Gaye,

Thanks for your comments. The Cobra Greenhood is also known as "Superb Greenhood", but I find the Cobra name more descriptive. That flared hood feature which you have noticed makes the name a good one to use. Superb is OK, but not diagnostic.

I was secretly hoping that you might have recognised the brown fungus with yellow gills. It is a mystery to me.

Cheers

Denis