Sassafras and Birdwood Gullies – Orchids, Fungi and Slime Moulds – 22 March 2019

With fungi, you need to be opportunistic – and be prepared to venture out not long after reasonable rain. I was keen to check out how Sassafras Gully at Springwood was. It was quite good – in particular for slime moulds.

On this trip – I set off down the track from Sassafras Gully Road, and walked as far as Glenbrook Creek and returned the same way. The abundance of fungi was not huge – but what I did find was interesting. More abundant perhaps were the slime moulds.

Here are some of the slime moulds –

Here are some of the fungi –

One interesting fungus that I had seen previously in Sassafras Gully and other places, that is not in the standard field guides is Amparoina spinosissima. 

It is described in this very interesting blog post – the Forest Floor Narrative. There the author talks about a special trait it has – the spines on the cap.

There were also a number or orchids out –

When I reached Springwood, I found I had missed a train back by a few minutes and as the next one would be going in an hour, I set off for a quick trip down Birdwood Gully on the other side (North) of Springwood. A previous trip had been extremely good for fungi, but alas – this time things were quite poor.

More photos together with identifications are online here on my website.

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