Fungus on Mt Wellington - 3 & 4 May 2007

Fungus on Mt Wellington - 3 & 4 May 2007

Lots of fungus growing on Mt Wellington after recent rain. If ayone can identify these, go right ahead.



My new fungi book suggests that this one is Amanita farinacea. It could be A. ananiceps. In either case, this is a young one, prior to it opening. It will lose the "warts" and become a smooth-topped mushroom. But will it be grey or white - hard to tell now from the photo. Grey=A.ananiceps, white=A. farinacea. Then again it could be A. ochrophylloides, although the warts don't seem right for this last one. It appears that you need to observe the mushroom throughout its evolution. However, I think this one is fairly obviously Amanita muscaria, or Fly Agaric. This featured in a Mercury story the other day. Here it is at the Fungimap website. I'm working through the species they are targeting to see if I can find any of these ones.



And here's a gratuitous pretty, dying, gumleaf with the sun illuminating it from behind.

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