There is always a bit of excitement when the fungi season gets going. There are some weird and wonderful fungi out there. Knowledge about fungi in Australia is, however, very limited. There are still more unknown than known species and only a small number can be identified just by look. Mycologists (fungi scientists) often need to use microscopy or even DNA testing to identify species.
The Fungimap project1 involves non-experts to map the distribution of that small group of fungi that can be readily identified by photos showing their shape, size, colour and structure. The participants also make some observations about the fungi’s habitat and what material it is growing in. So far, over 80,000 observations have been made to the Fungimap Australia project in iNaturalist2.
The photo gallery shows photos of fungi from around Nelson that have been successfully identified. See if you can match the photos to the list of species names. The common names are sometimes a bit quirky. The answers are in the pdf file at the end of this post.
| 1 | Amanita armeniaca |
| 2 | Australian Honey Fungus (Armillaria luteobubalina) |
| 3 | Collared Earthstar (Geastrum triplex) |
| 4 | Fistulina spiculifera |
| 5 | Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) |
| 5 | Ghost Mushroom (Omphalotus nidiformis) |
| 6 | Graceful Parasol (Macrolepiota clelandii) |
| 7 | Green Skinhead (Cortinarius austrovenetus) |
| 8 | Panellus luxfilamentus |
| 9 | Postia pelliculosa |
| 10 | Rhodofomitopsis lilacinogilva |
| 11 | Saffron Milkcap (Lactarius deliciosus) |
| 12 | Salmon Gum Mushroom (Phlebopus marginatus) |
| 13 | Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum brunneum) |
| 14 | Smooth Cage Fungus (Ileodictyon gracile) |
| 15 | Southern Cinnabar Polypore (Trametes coccinea) |
| 16 | Spectacular Rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius) |
| 17 | Splitgill Mushroom (Schizophyllum commune) |
| 18 | Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) |
| 19 | Trooping Crumble Cap (Coprinellus disseminates) |
| 20 | Turkey-Tail (Trametes versicolor) |
| 21 | Vermilion Amanita (Amanita xanthocephala) |
| 22 | White Punk (Laetiporus portentosus) |
| 23 | Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica) |
| 24 | Yellow Earth Buttons (Phaeohelotium baileyanum) |
REFERENCES
Nelson Coastcare 