Vale – Liz Kabanoff

My good friend Liz Kabanoff passed away unexpectedly on the night of Tuesday 8th September. I got to know Liz through our mutual interest in studying fungi. Liz had a scientific career as a microscopist at the University of Western Sydney and had not long retired. Retirement meant that she could devote more time to her passions – looking for fungi, orchids and other delights of Nature. She was a very keen observer and talented at being able to spot small and obscure species. 

Liz Kabanoff and myself in Birdwood Gully. Photo by Gemma Williams.

I was fortunate to spend many days in the bush with Liz over the past few years. And they were busy days. I like to photograph fungi and orchids and on these trips, Liz would find so much that I would be fully occupied trying to photograph everything and still keep up with her latest finds. Hectic days, but amazingly joyful days – we would share our excitement with finding species unfamiliar to us for the first time. 

Some of the places we visited together included Birdwood and Sassafras Gullies at Springwood, both near her home at Winmalee. And also Coachwood Glen at Blackheath.  Often on these trips we would also be joined by Gemma Williams. Gemma also accompanied Liz on fungi trips to New Zealand and Tasmania. 

Liz enjoyed being in Nature, pottering around, looking under leaf litter, picking up a rotten log to see what was underneath or peering at a possible slime mould. She was very thorough, often finding things of interest in places I had already looked at. Walking along a track she would always spot the orchids first, even if she was walking along behind me. 

She also wandered through the bush near her place and further afield. Earlier this year, I had not seen one particular species – the striking light blue Entoloma viriscens. I had seen one of her photos of it taken locally at Winmalee. After a Birdwood Gully trip, she took me to where she had found it – a very obscure bit of bushland behind some houses near the golf course. We had to hunt to find it again, but find it we did. A few years earlier, Liz had examined the spores of this species microscopically to determine what it was. 

Probably quite a few of the fungal species Liz found were ones not scientifically described. One distinctive species that Liz found a few years ago, was a most beautiful, strawberry pink coral fungus. She had found this on one early trip by herself to Birdwood Gully. She was overjoyed when we found more of it last year and early this year growing in the same place. No one seems to know what it is, and there are no pictures of a species like it in any of the books and references we have. 

As well as appreciating the beauty of the bush, Liz also took a keen interest in caring for the bush. She was heavily involved in local Bushcare groups in the Blue Mountains, helping to remove invasive species. 

Photo by Gemma Williams

Liz’s Bushcare activities sometimes prevented her attending field trips of the Sydney Fungal Studies Group, but she helped out in many ways – presenting at the workshops and looking after the website. She also assisted me tremendously as a co-administrator of the Fungi of the Sydney Region Facebook Page. But more than this, she was highly valued as both poster of excellent photos and commenting on other people’s photos – helping them with identifications and other information. She was always very generous sharing her skills and knowledge. Also – the photos she took of amazing species encouraged many others to go out and look, and in particular to look and see. To appreciate Nature far more deeply than they might have before. 

Her family and friends gathered at the Else Mitchell Park at Springwood to celebrate her life on 16 September. This reserve at Springwood was close to Liz. She would often make visits looking for fungi and orchids. It was also where she undertook Bushcare activities.

During the ceremony, four young Blue Gums were planted in her memory. I hope they grow well.

I will miss Liz. I will miss our times together, our cafe stops before a trip, where we would discuss what we hoped to find, and our pleasure together when one of us did find something of interest. As the 2020 fungi season came to a close, we were talking about places we intended to visit together next year. Sadly that is not to be. My condolences to her family and friends.