Michele recently documented some plants that are flowering around Paluma late in the dry Season. One would normally not think of looking out for mushrooms at this time of year, with the forest floor about as dry as it ever gets, and most fungi either totally absent or, in the case of bracket fungi, persisting as dried-out colourless husks clinging to logs and tree trunks. However there is one group of fungi whose fruiting body (what we call a mushroom) make a regular occurrence at this time of year and they are really quite spectacular in their shape. They are called coral fungi (most of them in the genus Ramaria), and as a coral biologist I can attest that they bear a striking resemblance to true corals.
I have seen two fine specimens of coral fungi in the last few weeks. One on the track to Witt’s lookout (above), and the other at the cutting outside the gate to 28 Mt Spec Road. They are probably gone now but there should be others coming up over the month around the village and adjacent tracks.
Coral fungi, despite there impressive appearance have not been well documented in Australia. According to the Qld Mycological Society, there are only 19 described species of Ramaria in Australia, but “… it is quite possible that the total number of species of Ramaria found to occur in Australia will be over 100.” None of the 18 recognised species in Queensland looks similar to the ones in the photos here so it is quite possible that these specimens are are an undescribed species (or tw0)!
Text and photos by Jamie Oliver
These are amazing, perhaps you might lay claim to naming a new species!