Some Australian Fungi

Agaricus silvaticus

Agaricus silvaticus otherwise known as the Scaly Wood Mushroom or Blushing Wood Mushroom, is a common, edible Mushroom, often found in groups in coniferous forests from early summer.

The greyish-brown cap is hemispherical when young, but later flattens out up to 10 cm in diameter. It is covered with broad scales. The gills are grey when young, and become much darker with age. The spores are chocolate brown. The stem is brownish, often with a hanging ring and a small bulb at the base. The flesh is white with a mild taste, turning reddish when cut.

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita.

Amanita muscaria

A large conspicuous mushroom, Amanita muscaria is generally common and numerous where it grows, and is often found in groups with basidiocarps in all stages of development. Fly agaric fruiting bodies emerge from the soil looking like white eggs. After emerging from the ground, the cap is covered with numerous small white to yellow pyramid-shaped warts. These are remnants of the universal veil, a membrane that encloses the entire mushroom when it is still very young. Dissecting the mushroom at this stage will reveal a characteristic yellowish layer of skin under the veil; this is helpful in identification. As the fungus grows, the red colour appears through the broken veil and the warts become less prominent; they do not change in size, but are reduced relative to the expanding skin area. The cap changes from globose to hemispherical, and finally to plate-like and flat in mature specimens. Fully grown, the bright red cap is usually around 8–20 cm (3–8 in) in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. The red colour may fade after rain and in older mushrooms.

Amanita punctata

Amanita punctata also known as Spotted Stem Ringless Amanita.

Amanita punctata  is up to 87 mm wide, at first globose, then convex, sometimes gibbous, then planar to slightly depressed, smooth, slightly sticky when moist, nonappendiculate, with a markedly striate to sulcate and rather short margin. The cap is very dark gray to grayish brown to smoke gray, and is darkest over the disc. The volva is present as occasional patches (especially in young material), with most of them near the margin.

Calocera guepiniodes

Calocera guepiniodes with common name Scotsman’s Beard.

This species looks like tiny, cylindrical or slightly tapering orange or yellow fingers on wood. The fingers are up to 5mm tall and have a gelatinous texture. It can be found on dead wood, often Banksia wood. It is a decomposer species of fungi.

Collybia sp

Collybia sp or the commonly known Twisted stem agaric

This mushroom is placed in this broad genus for the time being as identification can be difficult. The cap is convex to flat, reddish-brown, to 6 cm diameter. Gills almost free from stem, dirty white in colour. Stem twisted, rope-like to 7 cm long, often somewhat flattened. Caespitose habit, forming fairy rings in lawn.