Being Autumn, alternately damp and cold, then dry and warm, I’m on the alert for more weird and wonderful fungi.
These fleshy tree-huggers are new to me. I was taken by the way their lightly frilled skirts droop into points like nippled udders.
I think they are a type of oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, which would be edible, but I wouldn’t dare try them.
Perhaps someone will identify them for me.
A few days later, these two isolated individuals showed up on the forest floor. Tomato-red, I think I have tracked them down to be Stropharia aurantiaca.
They don’t have a common name, so Tomato fungi they will be for me.
They aren’t noted as edible, but given my cowardly nature in such matters, I’ll just enjoy their cheery appearance on a bleak day.
For me, common or not, all fungi are magic — sudden appearances, startling colours and shapes, as much appreciated for the surprise, the element of discovery they provide, as for the visual treat.
Hi and thanks for visiting; how about The Nature of Robertson ( see my links (LH) for a mix of nature and enviro issues?
If it’s mainly coal etc, check out Lock the Gate there.
You’re welcome. I only have two books:
‘A field guide to Australian Fungi’ by Bruce Fuhrer
and
‘Fungi Down Under the fungimap Guide to Australian Fungi’ edited by Pat Grey and Ed Grey.
Cheers,
Gaye
As always, thanks Gaye, for your knowledgeable input! What Aussie fungi book do you use?
Hello Sharyn,
you are very wise not to eat fungi just because they look like the edible oyster fungi, as the Omphalotus nidiformis (Ghost Fungi) can look very much like the oyster fungus, and is highly poisonous.
The red fungus is most probably Russula aff rosacea. It is a beauty.
Cheers,
Gaye