Fun Fungi!

                                                           I know, long time no blog!

It is easy to ignore the garden in winter as the rain and cold are not really conducive to spending much time in it. Regardless there are still lots of interesting things happening, including the appearance of diverse varieties of fungi (although apparently most reveal themselves in Autumn). Kallista (as in our house & garden) is in a very damp and dark situation, opposite a creek. This makes it a perfect environment for moisture seeking fauna and flora. Having said that fungi can be found in many diverse global habitats, including deserts.

Here are some 'Fun Fungi that we located and thanks go to PK for some of these wonderful pics. 

Now, for a little background on these organisms. According to the "Australian National Botanical Gardens" website what you see in the garden is just the tip of the iceberg. Around 90% of the organism is underground and the part that you see on the surface has the function of producing and dispersing spores. The underground component, the mycelium, remains there throughout the year.

 

Fungi interact with other organisms, some in a parasitic fashion and others are beneficial to plants. As yet I haven't tried to identify ours and their relationship to their hosts except for this yellow one which I stumbled upon in the literature and our garden. It is most likely to be a Cytarria gunnii that enjoys the company of our Nothofagus (southern beech).