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Fungi Photos Group T
Stereum ostrea to Trametes versicolor
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Stereum ostrea, "Golden Curtain Crust", (in USA "False Turkey Tail") is a very common thin wood-rotting shelf fungus found world-wide on dead wood, often in overlapping tiers. It is not a polypore, but has a smooth under-surface bearing basidiospores. It forms fan-like lobes to 140 mm wide, 130 mm radius, 2 mm thick, leathery in texture. The top is slightly hairy, especially near the base, zoned radially in colours from dark brown near the base, out through oranges and chrome yellow, with a very light margin; sometimes green algae also colonizes the top. Underneath is smooth, but with wrinkles or bumps, without pores, colour from white though yellow or orange to gold. NB: Distinguished from slightly similar Trametes versicolor by the latter having fine whitish pores underneath. Mushroom Expert ref Australian Fungi Blog ref Morwell NP ref Tom Volk's ref Myrtle Loop Walk, The Beeches, Marysville, 2007. 52 kB
Stereum rugosum, (Europe: "Bleeding Broadleaf Crust"), is a world-wide wood-rotting fungus growing as sheets of smooth, pore-less fertile surface in grey tones, lighter near the margin. (Contrast Stereum illudens violet colours.) It turns over near the tops to form brackets of dark brown, hairy, radial zones with a lighter coloured margin. Morwell NP ref MycoKey ref RJ Hamer Arboretum, 2005. 49 kB
Stropharia aurantiaca has recently been renamed to Leratiomyces ceres. It is a red-coloured wood-rotting agaric very common on wood-chips and mulch, lawns (but not often in forest), and can form dense colonies. Occurs in Europe, North America, Australia and NZ; origin unsure, but probably introduced here horticulturally. Cap to 60 mm, scarlet to red-orange or red-brown, smooth, perhaps sticky; convex or bell-shaped to flat, usually with broad umbo; margin often flecked with beaded whitish remnants of veil. Gills close, pale yellow at first, then greyish-brown, darkening as spores mature; spore print dark purple-brown. Stem slender, whitish with brownish-red fibrils in lower part; perhaps fibrillose ring remnants; stains reddish-orange with maturity. Coarse hairs at base. Wikipedia ref Mushroom Expert ref MykoWeb ref Merimbula, NSW, 2008. 56 kB
Stropharia semiglobata, "Dung Slime Head" is a cellulose-rotting fungus almost always associated with herbivore dung; probably introduced from Europe. Distinctive cap (and stem) slimy when fresh, to 40 mm, light dull yellow-brown, darker near centre, nearly hemispherical, expanding with age; never bell-shaped. Gills almost close, pallid at first, darkening as spores mature; spore print purple-brown. Stem very long, slender (to 100 mm x 3 mm), at first viscid to glutinous up to glutinous ring remnants; white to pale buff, yellower towards base. Grows singly or in groups. MykoWeb ref Hidden Forest NZ ref Comments on Stropharia genus Ned's Gully, Cathedral Range, 2007. 42 kB
Suillus granulatus is an introduced species mycorrhizal with pine trees. Cap to 150 mm with light brown to red-brown viscid skin (silky when dry) that is peelable; often streaky or patchy brown pattern on cap; hemispherical at first then convex; flesh does not discour when cut or bruised. Underneath are pores as circular tubes up to 1 mm diam, cream then yellow then old-gold; spore print orange-brown. Pores exude a yellowish clear or milky latex. Stem sturdy or robust, with granular dots towards top; whitish to pale yellow to dirty brown with age. NB: Ring absent, which distinguishes this from similar Suillus luteus (Slippery Jack). Odour fruity-bready; regarded as edible, especially when pickled. Wikipedia ref Mushroom Expert ref Kurth Kiln, near Gembrook, 2005, underneath pines. 30 kB
Trametes versicolor, "Rainbow Fungus", or "Turkey Tail" is a world-wide wood-rotting polypore growing in sometimes extensive tiers and rosettes on dead wood; it can also parasitise living trees. I have included many images because I find this an appealing and variable fungus. Brackets to 70 mm wide and 50 mm radius, to 3mm thick, tough and leathery. Notable for extremely variably-coloured radial zones of colours ranging from blue-black to off-white, but mainly many varieties of browns; margin often lighter in colour; the surface texture is finely hairy to smooth, and the brackets are variously undulating and lobed. Even green zones can occur owing to algae growth. Underneath is a thin layer of fine off-white to cream pores; spore print white. Certain promising anti-cancer agents are extracted from this fungus. Wikipedia ref MykoWeb ref Tom Volk's ref Fernshaw Picnic Area, 2009. 94 kB
