| Common Name: |
Ghost
Fungus |
Study
subject Ghost Fungus [A] |
Study
subject Ghost Fungus [B] |
| Synonym: |
Omphalotus
nidiformis. |
Study
reference=Omphalotus spp[A] [Maguire 2009] |
Study
reference=Omphalotus spp[B]
[Maguire 2009] |
| Pileus |
The cap is cream in colour though
sometimes tinted with a brown centre.
Specimens growing at Springbrook are generally 100 to 150 mm in diameter are funnel-shaped
with inrolled margins only if growing in sunlight where they develop a hardened pileus.
They become inverse in appearance with sometimes upturned margins if growing in
total shade with high humidity.Under these conditions the flesh is soft and easily damaged. Softer specimens degenerate
rapidly when cut.
Odor mild when fresh, pungent to musty/putrid odour when decaying. |
The cap is cream
with a yellow to mustard/yellow centre.
Specimens found to date are 20mm to 50mm in diameter, shallow dome-shaped in appearance with inrolled margins.
Tough rubbery flesh, does not damage easily.
Unchanging when cut; odor mild when fresh, stronger musty but not unpleasant odour when decaying.
|
The cap is cream
with a grey/black centre.
Specimens found to date are 20mm to 120 mm in diameter, shallow funnel-shaped
in appearance with inrolled margins.
Tough rubbery flesh, does not damage easily.
Unchanging when cut; odor mild when fresh, stronger musty but not unpleasant odour when decaying. |
| Lamellae |
Cream-white gills are decurrent.
If growing in sunlight can be the most luminescent part of the fruitbody due to the
hardening of the pileus. |
Cream-white gills
are decurrent and are the most luminescent part of the fruitbody. |
Cream-white gills
are decurrent and are the most luminescent part of the fruitbody. |
| Stipe |
Can be central to lateral in its
attachment to the cap and is up to 8 cm long and tapers to the base. |
Can be central to
lateral in its attachment to the cap and is up to 3 cm long and tapers to the base. |
Can be central to
lateral in its attachment to the cap and is up to 6 cm long and tapers to the base of
which shares the same grey/black colouration. |
| Spores |
spores white in
deposit. |
spores white in
deposit. |
spores white in
deposit |
| Mycelia |
Bioluminescence
is not particularly noticable on external log surfaces , but is sometimes quite remarkable
when very wet soft rotting logs are split open at night after fruiting has finished
particularly in seasons of very high rainfall. |
No
bioluminescence on host trees has yet been observed. |
No
bioluminescence on host trees has yet been observed. |
| Habitat |
Found widely
along the Great Dividing Range from as far north as the Queensland border ranges to the
south along the coastline around to Perth in West Australia. Usually clustered at bases of
living or dead trees, or on stumps, of trees such as Eucalyptus, Leptospermum, Banksia,
Grevillea, also on exotic Pinus and Platanus. |
To date only
Springbrook Queensland. |
To date only
Springbrook Queensland. |
| Edibility |
Poisonous, causing severe
vomiting within a couple of hours of ingestion. |
Unpallatable
(from personally sampling) |
Unpallatable
(from personally sampling) |
| Comments |
Generally fruits
after periods of prolonged wet summer weather in Queensland usually in the Autumn. In
order to achieve any longevity it needs shade and very high humidity. |
This new
discovery appears to be a different species from what we know as
Omphalotus nidiformis.
It has colouration similar to Omphalotus nidiformis but any resemblance ends there.
It differs dramatically in size and shape being much smaller, cleaner in shape, quite
'rubbery' in texture (one can strike a mushroom against a tree to dislodge gnat larvae
from the gills without damaging it ),and it is very well structured when growing in
clusters, a growth habit very different to O.nidiformis that grows in an erratic pattern
with no apparent cluster structure whatsoever. |
Yet another
variant species from what we know as Omphalotus nidiformis.
Similar to Omphalotus spp [Maguire 2009] but the colouration and shape are also different
both on pileus and stipe.
Growing in a cluster the fruitbodies are smaller and well structured. Growing as
individual specimens they are much larger and considerably darker in colouration. |
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