I didn't expect to see much fungi in Canberra last December. My trusty field guide identifies Canberra as a winter-hotspot, but two factors were on my side. First, it was a wet, wet summer across Australia. Second, Australia loves to wood-chip it's native forests...
This creepy fellow is
Phallus rubicundrus, looking slightly worse for wear. The gleba has been stripped of its spores, either by flies, or more likely rain.
Mycena viscidocruenta.
Clavulina vinaceocervina, given it's setting of moss. Could also be one of the species in the
Clavulina subrugosa complex.
Hmm...
Uh...
A member of the genus
Calocera.
Definitely an
Amanita spp., perhaps
ochrophylloides.
These are
Gymnopilus junonius. The japanese called them waraitake (the laughing mushroom), and they're known in Australia as laughing gyms. Some subspecies contain psilocybin - perhaps the source of the laughter?
