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Bunya Mountains Fungi

Welcome to the exciting world of FUNGI-FINDING!​

Our brochure starts you on your fungi-finding way at the Bunya Mountains.

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​​BEST TIME TO SEARCH: Any time of year; best finds occur during/after prolonged periods of rain or mist.​

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

  • The brochure

  • Open eyes

  • Look carefully at ground level soil, leaf litter, tree trunks [upright and fallen]

  • Look for sudden changes of colour or odour - a likely fungal clue!

Aseroe rubra Sea Anemone Fungus;

Sea Anemone Fungus

Our community brochure

Welcome to the exciting world of FUNGI-FINDING!​ Our brochure starts you on your fungi-finding way at the Bunya Mountains.

​​

BEST TIME TO SEARCH:

Any time of year; best finds occur during/after prolonged periods of rain or mist.

​

WHAT YOU NEED:

• The brochure

• Open eyes

• Look carefully at ground level soil, leaf litter, tree trunks [upright and fallen]

• Look for sudden changes of colour or odour - a likely fungal clue!

​

DO NOT TOUCH OR EAT ANY OF YOUR FUNGI FINDS!

​​​

Acknowledgments

​

BCMAI would especially like to acknowledge the authors of "A Snapshot of Bunya Mountains Fungi", KEN CHAPMAN & MARY MAHONEY. They have provided advice and help along the way and given us access to their written and photographic material. Thank you so much, Mary and Ken.

 

Thank you also to Meg Noack for dedicated commitment to the collation of the brochure

 

Initial Advice: Dr. Sapphire McMullan-Fisher

Individual photographs: Anna Noack; Lynne Lipp; Meg Noack

 

Funding Acknowledgement: South Burnett Regional Council

 

Additional Resources

 

A good fungi-finder can be any age. A great fungi-finder always wants to know more.

 

WEBSITES:

iNaturalist: Download the app that will expand your knowledge enormously. It keeps you up to date with fungi names and what kinds of images are required if you want to share your images:

https://fungimap.org.au/record-map/

https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/fungimap-australia

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/australian-fungi-of-the-tropics-subtropics

Queensland Mycological Society: https://qldfungi.org.au

Fungimap.org.au

 

BOOKS:

A SNAPSHOT OF BUNYA MOUNTAINS FUNGI [2020] by Ken Chapman & Mary Mahoney

 

AUSTRALIAN SUBTROPICAL FUNGI [Revised Ed] [2023] by Sapphire McMullan-Fisher, Patrick Leonard & Frances Guard.

 

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE FUNGI OF AUSTRALIA [2022) by Dr. Tony Young. Illustrations by Kay Smith

 

OTHER BROCHURES:

"Fungi of Southeast Queensland"; "Mushrooms of Southeast Queensland"

See Fungimap online

 

An initiative of the Bunya Mts Community Assoc Inc (BMCAI) with Sponsorship Grant Funding gratefully received from the South Burnett Regional Councils Community Grants Program.

Introduced Fungi

REMEMBER - not all fungi are native. As with other introduced species, introduced fungi can cause problems

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  • ORANGE PORE FUNGI [native of Madagascar]

  • PHYTOPTHORA A microscopic fungus from Africa that is killing Bunya pines [Araucaria bidwillii]

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WHAT CAN I DO?

Do not walk where wild pigs have dug in the soil. ALWAYS use the foot-wash facilities on the walks. Keep the soles of shoes free of mud.

The Fungi

FAMILY GROUPS OF FUNGI:

Inside the brochure we have the most common fungi families found on the Bunya Mountains. Eleven of these families have been chosen for you to find. They are:​ Agarics, Stinkhorns, Puffballs, Polypores, Leathers, Cup & Disc Fungi, Toothed/Icicle Fungi, Corals, Slime, Jellies, Boletes.

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FUNGI NAMES:

The brochure contains morphogroups, followed by scientific names and common names. It's a bit like your family name followed by your first name while the fungi's common name is your nick-name.

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ABOUT LICHEN:

At the Bunyas, you will also see plenty of lichen. It can look like a plant but it isn't a plant. It can have different shapes - some have little branches, others have a leafy look whilst some look like spilt liquid that dried.

Agarics

Agarics

Capped fungi

• Radiating gills

underneath

• Often have stems

• Include many we call 'mushrooms'

Stinkhorns

Stinkhorns

• Emerge from an egglike structure

• A variety of shapese merge

• Spores smell foul; often attract flies and other

insects

Puffballs

  • A firm sac encloses spores

  • Spores spreadwhen sac opens

puffballs

Polypores

  • Must have pores [NOT GILLS]

  • Pores [small holes] are underneath

Heading 2

polpores

Leathers

  • Have a thin structure [textured like leather]

  • Mostly found on wood

  • Smooth underneath

  • No gills and no pores on underside

leathers

Cup and Disc Fungi

  • Shaped as a bowl or cup

  • Spores form on inside surface

Toothed or Icicle Fungi

Look like icicles

Corals

• Branching in a coral shape

Slime

  • Start as a dense, wet mass of small, egg shapes

  • May change colour and appearance

Jellies

  • Like jelly; a rubbery texture

  • Various shapes

  • Spores formed on the inside

Heading 2

slime
jellies

Boletes

  • Similar appearance to a mushroom-shaped Agaric

  • Most have pores, not gills, under the cap

  • Appear fleshy

Lichen

lichen

  • LICHENS are part fungi, algae and/or cyanobacteria.

  • The most common at the Bunya Mts. is Usnea rubicunda - Old Man's Beard with tiny branches and Heterodermia sp. - leafy shaped

FANTASTIC & WEIRD FACTS ABOUT FUNGI

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AMAZING FUNGI FACT 1: Nature's Nightlight

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The Ghost Fungus, Omphalotus nidiformis, is an Agaric and glows in the dark because of a chemical reaction creating bioluminescent light. It is a white rot fungus that breaks down wood. This decay helps the ecosystem by releasing nutrients that otherwise would stay locked away in the timber.

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AMAZING FUNGI FACT 2: There are fungi that can turn insects into zombies.

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They use insect bodies to grow. The insect probably eats the fungal spores. The spores grow and take over the insect's body. They are parasites. Ill Cordyceps hawkesii Drechmeria gunnii

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AMAZING FUNGI FACT 3: Fungi use smell to attract insects.

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Their group name, 'stinkhorns', is because they STINK!! A smelly, gooey spore mass oozes out of them. They smell like rotting flesh. The smell attracts insects that carry the spores away.

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AMAZING FUNGI FACT 4: Fungi sends messages around the rainforest underneath your feet.

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There is a maze of underground highways of interconnecting fungal threads so trees can communicate with one another. The fungi we see are visible signs of the highways beneath our feet!

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