I attended the Sydney Fungal Studies Group Inc Field Activity at Coachwood Glen last Saturday. Coachwood Glen can be found in Megalong Valley, not far from Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. There is a short nature walk in the rainforest at the glen, which can be found near the bottom of the hill before the road emerges from the first into the open farmlands of Megalong Valley.
This are turned out to be a fungi paradise! We only walked a few hundred metres along the track over a period of two hours or so. There was so much fungi to see. As well as fungi – we also saw a number of slime moulds and a recently discovered plant.
The activity began with a short workshop in macro-photography conducted by Helmut, from the Central West Bushwalkers from Bathurst. Then we began searching the forest to see what was there. A lot of fungi was out – and we were spoilt with photographic opportunities – even with a large number of people wandering around with cameras and tripods.
Thismia megalongensis
Looking out for small red fungi, we spotted several tiny red flowers. I realised these must be the ones recently reported in the paper that had been discovered growing in Megalong Valley. See here and here. They are a variety of Fairy Lantern, now given the name Thismia megalongensis. These plants do not have any leaves and do not get their energy from photosynthesis. Instead they have a relationship with a fungi – and they get what they need from the fungi.
Cordyceps militaris
Cordyceps robertsii
We also found specimens of two types of Cordyceps – the fungi that parasitise caterpillars. For me, it was the second time I had seen these unusual fungi. The first time was the day before at Lawson.
Dead Mans Fingers – Xylaria polymorpha
We also found some Dead Mans Fingers – black club shaped fungi growing on a rotten log, and some beautiful green clubs growing amongst the leaf litter.
After our photographing and collecting, we headed back up the road to Blackheath and at one of the local parks we then identified what we had collected.
This was a most interesting day at a wonderful location.
I have a lot more photographs online starting on this page.