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Fungimap Newsletter Issue 8 October 1998 |
Where are we at with our funding? Currently we are submitting for the Readers Digest Environment Award and the National Bank Community Awards. Last year we were finalists for the Readers Digest Environment Award. Later this year we will commence searching for new trusts to request funds from. We still have funds left from the Myer Foundation grant but are using these cautiously to ensure that we keep things going.
We now have a few things on our side - we have a consistent proven record and I think we also now have the biggest data base for the target species in Australia. All of this has occurred from your volunteer efforts.
My trips will be on 18 October 1998, 18 March and 16 May 1999. If you wish to visit the fabulous North East in these wonderful times. come on a walk with us and help search
I know that there are many Fungimappers out there with a greater knowledge of fungi then myself. How about doing the same thing in your area?
We now have more than 270 people receiving this newsletter, an increase of 70 since the last!
Colour brochures of the original 8 target species are available from myself. The remaining 42 species can all be found in Bruce Fuhrer's book, A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. (For the complete list of species see below) This is available in many bookshops, through the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria or through Fungimap. The cost of Bruce's book is $20.00. Each copy you buy from Fungimap assists us to keep going.
How can you access the site without your own computer or modem? Many adult
education centres, neighbourhood houses and computer shops allow people to
access the Internet and will show you how to gain access to our homepage for a
small fee. If they have a colour printer, you may be able to run off colour
copies of the photographs.
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Currently, approximately 5000 Australian fungi are known. This represents only 5% of the expected population of Australian species. At current rates of research, it is estimated that it would take 700 years before all Australian fungi are catalogued.
The Australian Fungi Mapping Scheme is a volunteer group working in close conjunction with professional mycologists. It undertakes the Fungimap project as well as carrying out field research of specific areas each year. In the last year field expeditions occurred at Mt Buffalo and Wilson's Promontory National Parks.
In the Fungimap project, 50 target species have now been selected and volunteers have been searching for these species for 18 months, sending in 1500 records to date. Volunteers are able to identify the species from photographs in readily available texts, predominantly Bruce Fuhrer's A Field Companion to Australian Fungi.
For further information you can contact John Julian, P.O. Box 178, Bright
Vic 3741, phone (03) 5750 1796 or preferablv, by email at
wandivalley@netc.net.au
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Numbers in brackets are page numbers in Bruce Fuhrer's Field Companion to Australian Fungi (published by FNCV).
ORIGINAL EIGHT (illustrated in Fungimap colour brochure - in addition, all species except Amanita muscaria and
Battarraea stevenii are illustrated in Field Comp..
Amanita muscaria
Amanita xanthocephala (21)
Aseroe rubra (102)
Battarraea stevenii
Dermocybe austroveneta (31)
Mycena interrupta (59)
Omphalina chromacea (62)
Omphalotus nidiformis (70)
ADDITIONS MARCH 1997 For this first updated list, all species are
illustrated in Bruce Fuhrer's Field Companion.
Agaricus xanthodermus (15)
Amauroderma rude (113)
Anthurus archeri (102)
Armillaria luteobubalina (22)
Ascocoryne sarcoides (144)
Banksiamyces macrocarpa (146)
Boletellus obscurecoccineus (80)
Calostoma fuscum (94)
Cordyceps gunnii (154)
Cordyceps hawkesii (155)
Cortinarius austroalbidus (in Field Comp. as C. albidus) (29)
Cortinarius radicatus (34)
Cortinarius rotundisporus (36)
Cyttaria gunnii (147)
Fistulina hepatica (116)
Gymnopilus pampeanus (45)
Hericium clathroides (108)
Hygrophorus lewellinae (48)
Ileodictyon gracile/cibarium (in Field Comp. as Clathrus cibarius)
(101/104)
Leotia lubrica (150)
Lepista nuda (52)
Macrotyphula juncea (in Field Comp. as Clavaria delphus) (85)
Marasmius oreades (55)
Microporus xanthopus (118)
Morchella elata/conica (in Field Comp. as Morchella sp.) (151)
Mucronella pendula (in Field Comp. as Myxomycidium pendulum) (90)
Mycena austrororida (57)
Mycoacia subceracea (109)
Neolentinus dactyloides (in Field Comp. as Lentinus terrestris) (52)
Oudemansiella radicata (67)
Panus fasciatus (in Field Comp. as Lentinus fasciatus) (51)
Piptoporus australiensis (119)
Piptoporus maculatissimus (121)
Podaxis pistillaris (100)
Podoserpula pusio (132)
Poronia ericii (in Field Comp. as P. punctata) (158)
Pseudohydnum gelatinosum (142)
Schizophyllum commune (76)
Tremella fuciformis (138)
Tremella mesenterica (140)
Vibrissea bicolor (154)
Volvariella speciosa (77)
All fungi records to be sent to:
Fungimap
National Herbarium of Victoria, Birdwood Avenue,
South Yarra, 3141.
All administrative and general enquiries to:
John Julian,
PO Box 178,
Bright, Victoria 3741.
Telephone (03) 5750 1796.
And the 2000th record was sent in by Ian McCann and Thelma Argall from the Grampians. their 14th batch. Thank you Ian and Thelma --keep up the good work.
It is largely due to these recorders that we continue to make such good progress with Fungimap. There are 268 recorders on our mailing list and if everyone sent in only 2 records, we would go ahead with leaps and bounds. One record is a help, even if you think that the species must have been recorded a number of times, even if it is extremely common, every record adds a bit of knowledge to the distribution of our 'target' species. In the UK (covering all species) they have hundreds of thousands of records from all over the kingdom.
Most of our records, as might be expected, come from Victoria but we hope that those 'fungists' in other states will make a big effort - we have quite a lot of records from Tasmania, and some from the highlands of NSW and South Australia, the rest from locations scattered over the continent.
Highlights
| 300th record of: | Amanita muscaria, Hamilton, Vic, Dave Munro. |
| 150th record of: | Amanita xanthocephala, Healesville, Vic, Omphalotus nidiformis, Melbourne, Vic, John Eichler |
| 100th record of: | Dermocybe austroveneta, Tumut, NSW, Margery Smith; Agaricus xanthodermus, Bundanoon, NSW, Patricia Jordon, (this sp. is at last looking like the more common species it is), Gymnopilus pampeanus, Warragul, Vic, Pat Grey, Oudemansiella radicata (at the moment we are not changing it to Xerula), Otways, Vic, Sapphire McMullen; Schizophyllum commune (1940), Cook District, Qld, Heino Lepp |
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50th record of:
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Armillaria luteobubalina, Dandenongs, Vic, Gary Watson; Cordyceps gunnii, Tarleton, Tas, Di Williams; Tremella fuciformis, McLaren Vale, SA, Pam Catcheside |
| 25th record of: | Amauroderma rude, Ararat, Vic, Ann Kettle; Morchella elata/conica, Warrnambool, Vic, Helen Langley; Volvariella speciosa, Melbourne, Vic, Virgil Hubregtse. |
| 15th record of: | Cyttaria gunnii, Baw Baw, Vic, Sharon Ford. |
| 10th record of: | Anthurus archeri, Westernport, Vic, Owen Davison, Ascocoryne sarcoides, Healesville, Vic, Cecily Falkingham; Podaxis pistillaris, Great Victoria Desert, SA/WA |
| 5th record of: | Cortinarius autroalbidus, Dandenongs, Vic, Hilary Weatherhead; Macrotyphula juncea, Otways, Vic, Ian McCann/Thelma Argall; Mucronella pendula, Hobart, Tas, David Ratkowsky. |
considering putting photographs on our web page for those of you who have
access but this will take a bit of time to organise.
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Bruce Fuhrer's Field Companion (p 109) has the only illustration of this Australian species, and may give a slightly distorted view- it is a close- up image. Roger Phillips (Mushrooms .... Great Britain & Europe, p 240) provides an illustration of a somewhat similar species, Mycoacia uda. It shows the species in 'normal' view, and it looks like a yellow stain on a small piece of wood, as does Mycoacia subceracea, but under the hand lens appears as a series of yellow spines.
Mycoacia subceracea is also cryptic, it is found on the underside of smallish damp branches, which have fallen to the ground. It is bright yellow (darker at maturity), lies flat on the substrate (see in Phillips illustration, p 241) with the spore producing layer outwards, but which, when magnified, can be seen to be covered in crowded, short, blunt protrusions (see Fuhrer, p 109).
Fungimap records of this Mycoacia subceracea come from Adelaide (SA), and in Victoria from Benalla, the Thompson River (FNCV Fungi foray) and Currawong Bush Park (outer Metropolitan park), so the species obviously occurs in a variety of habitats. Perhaps it is found near you. Please look under all branches and twigs for this species, so that we
can redress the balance in the database.
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In the Field Companion (Bruce Fuhrer) the cap is shown as glutinous and whitish. However, the cap is described as dry by Grgurinovic and Holland (The Victorian Naturalist 99(3) 1982, 103; Grgurinovic, 1995, Australian Systematic Botany, 8, 537-547, Mycena in Australia: Section Roridae) and common in the 1982 literature, although the map in the 1995 article shows a very sparse distribution - some in Victoria, a couple in Tasmania, one in WA, one in Qld. In order to create a valid picture of the distribution of this species we need more records or indications of non sightings.
The important characteristics of the species: that the hazel pigment is found in dots at the centre of the cap, which is also striate, and may or may not be translucent; that the stem is short - less than 3 cm (quite unusual in a Mycena) and very slimy, also that it tapers towards the cap.
Other characteristics include a white stipe, gills white, broadly adnate (straight on to the stem) to subdecurrent (almost running down the stem); fruiting bodies up to 3 cm in height.
Young's description of the species (called Mycena rorida in Common Fungi of Australia, p 94) is similar to Grgurinovic and Holland, also mentioning that the stem is coated with a thick layer of gluten but which persists only at the base, as the plant matures.
According to Grgurinovic (1995), the collections were found from April-June and August on rainforest trees, decayed logs, and fallen eucalypts. In Victoria Mycena austrororida has been found in the Dandenongs, Narbethong, and the Otways; in WA - Augusta; in Qld - Lamington; in Tas - Hobart and Cradle Mountain.
Mycena austrororida differs from the very similar new species M. yirukensis, in that the latter is found on litter rather than wood.
While moving my office to new quarters in November last year, I found a box (which I had forgotten about!), containing dried marsupial dung which I had collected in Australia in 1982! So, in my frustration at the non-arrival of my import permit, I decided to incubate some of this while I was writing up the data on Harry. To my amazement a few Ascomycetes appeared! - notably good healthy fruit bodies of Iodophanus carneus and Podospora tetraspora (the latter I also cultured). The dung had been dried in a box for fifteen years! This gives a small idea of the longevity (and stoicism!) of some of these fungi. A season in the Australian sun may, therefore, be no problem at all....
I finally received my first parcel of dried dung released to me by the
Quarantine Services on 15 February 1998.1 had originally applied for a permit
18 months ago., but the law on such imports had changed in the interval of time
and if I had not been making regular (fairly irate) phone calls I believe that
I would still be waiting for it to arrive...
Since that date I have been enjoying looking at some beautiful fungi and recording all the Ascomycetes which I have seen. To date (28 April 1998), I have now 73 recordings of 29 species belonging to 10 genera. The most frequently encountered genera thus far are: Podospora, Ascobolus and Saccobolus. Most of them have been unproblematic - that is they match already-described species, but at least three need further checking before I can ascertain their full identification. I have illustrated each species when it is first seen (that is the part which takes quite a lot of time); and when that species is recorded again, only ascospore measurements are taken and records made of any differences seen from the previous recording(s). Slides are made of every collection of every species, and where the material is particularly plentiful, herbarium material is prepared for inclusion into our own herbarium here and for inclusion in an Australian herbarium. I have made cultures of a few species of particular interest, although most coprophilous Ascomycetes are difficult to culture. Altogether, it has been a most enjoyable three months and I shall be loath to begin teaching again in July.... (I have to double up and teach in half a year what I normally teach in a whole year - in order to have my 6- month 'sabbatical'). However, I am hoping that I will still be able to make records of a few dung samples throughout that time, although naturally work will slow down a bit.
I have enjoyed correspondence with some of the kind collectors, and I will eventually contact all those people who have made this work possible.
Ann Bell
Thank you to: Robin Corringham (2 batches), Janet Fenton (3 batches), Ron Fletcher (2 batches), Greg Kirby, Ceri Pearce, Jennie Pearce, Margery Smith, Katrina Syme.
Included amongst the dung collections of macropod, Koala and Wombat were Cassowary, (Atherton, Qld, Ceri Pearce), Emu (Tumut, NSW, Margery Smith), and caterpillar (Denmark, WA, Katrina Syme).
Again thank you to all who have spent time collecting and drying dung
collections, 215 samples have now been sent to New Zealand. And, as Ann says,
keep those samples dropping in -
ANY herbivore dung from ANYWHERE in Australia, except Victoria's macropod and
wombat droppings. From Victoria we still need the more unusual herbivore scats -
more possum, glider, caterpillar, bird, fruit bat, etc.
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The distribution of Aseroe rubra (see map) in Tasmania is an interesting contrast to that of the same species in Victoria reported in Fungimap Newsletter 4. Whereas in Victoria the species is restricted to higher elevations (apart from a few occurrences in disturbed sites in urban areas), in Tasmania there are records from across the west and centre of the state; in rainforest, mixed forest and wet sclerophyll forest. A. rubra has been found at localities such as Bruny Island, South-east Cape, Holwell Gorge, Notley Gorge and in the Tewkesbury area, and is certainly not restricted to higher elevations in Tasmania. There is also a difference in the time of appearance of fruit bodies. In Victoria, most records (25 of 31) are from summer months. In Tasmania, the species has been sighted as frequently in autumn and winter as in summer. Further analysis of the relation between time of occurrence, altitude and latitude requires more sightings from the length of the east coast of Australia.
Lepista nuda (see map) has been recorded from a number of sites in the
Hobart area and the south west of the state. There is uncertainty as to whether
this is an indigenous species or not. If it has been introduced species, it has
certainly spread beyond urban areas.
Mycena interrupta (see map) is widespread in the central and western portions of Tasmania, mainly recorded from Nothofagus rainforest, and mixed Eucalyptus/Nothofagus forest. The absence of the species from the east of Tasmania needs to be confirmed by further recording in this area.
In contrast, Amanita xanthocephala (see map) has not been recorded from
the west of Tasmania, but there are records from the Hobart area, and also from
the north coast. This species occurs in drier habitats than Mycena
interrupta (although the two are sometimes found together). The pronounced
difference in rainfall in Tasmania from the dry east coast to the very high
rainfall of the west coast provides a useful gradient to study distributions
that might be controlled, at least in part by rainfall. Further records,
especially from the east of Tasmania, will be of interest in establishing the
ecological tolerance of A. xanthocephala.
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A thank you to Thelma Daniell for her donation towards producing Fungimap Newsletter.
All fungi records should be sent to the: Fungimap PROJECT, National Herbarium of Victoria, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra. 3141.
All administrative and general enquiries should be sent to John Julian, P.O. Box 178, Bright Vic 3741. Telephone (03) 5750 1795
Preferred contact mode is by the cheaper and environmentally sounder method
of email at: wandivalley@netc.net.au
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All published records of Mycena interrupta are summarised in Fungi of Australia 2A (1997), and none of the numerous records of the species are from South Australia. In addition, M. interrupta is not listed in Cleland's Toadstools and Mushrooms and other Larger Fungi of South Australia (1934), nor in Grgurinovic's Larger Fungi of South Australia (1997).
M. interrupta is a species which prefers wetter habitats in Tasmania and eastern Australia. It will be interesting to see if M. interrupta produces fruit bodies every year in the South Australian sites, and where else it might occur.
Australian Fungi Mapping Scheme
Fungimap Project
P.O. Box 178
Bright Vic 3741
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Fungimap is supported by the Myer Foundation
Fungimap Newsletter 8 is © 1998 Australian Fungi Mapping Scheme, Fungimap and Dr. Tom May
Last modified on 7 August 2003
Copyright © 1998-2003 Fungimap
