Leucopaxillus cerealis

O'Connor, ACT

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Identification history

Leucopaxillus cerealis	11 Oct 2016	Heino
Leucopaxillus cerealis	11 Oct 2016	Heino
Unidentified	6 Oct 2016	ibaird

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User's notes

Fungus photographed in situ under the canopy and within 2 m of the trunk of a large 55 yo old E.mannifera tree in my backyard 15 Fairfax St O'Connor.. Has appeared during the recent wet period commencing a week or so ago. The fungus has a white flesh. A hens egg indicates the scale.

12 comments

Heino wrote:

8 Oct 2016

Would you be able to add photographs of what's on the underside of the caps and also show the stems?

ibaird wrote:

8 Oct 2016

I've added three images. The first one shows the caps ageing (darkening toa more golden colour after 24 hrs). The second shows a vertical section cut from one of the caps to ground level. The third shows the upturned cut pieces, including a section showing the gill pattern from the underside.

ibaird wrote:

8 Oct 2016

Added a fourth image showing the stems of a large and smaller cap.

Heino wrote:

10 Oct 2016

Possibly a species of Leucopaxillus - but I'd need to check a couple of microscopic features to be sure. Is there any left and would you be able to bring it to the botanic gardens?

ibaird wrote:

11 Oct 2016

Yes, there's material left.What would you like me sample and bring along?

Heino wrote:

11 Oct 2016

If you can bring in at least one entire mushroom, that would be wonderful. If there is still some range in sizes, then could you bring in more (to help show any variation with age). Whether it's a Leucopaxillus or not I think it would be worth having a permanent herbarium specimen. Just take them to the information desk at the botanic garden's visitor centre.

ibaird wrote:

12 Oct 2016

Specimens delivered to ANBG Visitors Centre 2:00 pm 11/10/2016

Heino wrote:

12 Oct 2016

Thank you for all those specimens. I have set them drying and they will make a very good herbarium collection. It is indeed a Leucopaxillus and, I have put some general comments about this genus on CNM's Leucopaxillus page. I have several Leucopaxillus collections from the ACT, none of which I have yet tried to identify to species, but intend to have a 'Leucopaxillus day' soon and look at them all.

ibaird wrote:

12 Oct 2016

OK, I have set a notification alert for Leucopaxillus, so I look forward to hearing whether you are able to identify it to species..

Heino wrote:

15 Oct 2016

Your specimens have prompted much reading of the Leucopaxillus literature over the past few days. I have now identified a specimen I collected in 1991 from Commonwealth Park as the same species. In my general comments (http://canberranaturemap.org/Community/Species/21193) I note the possibility of there being several species hiding under the name 'cerealis'. If that view were supported by further studies, it seems likely that your and my collections would be regarded as different species, which leads me to wonder how much variation there is in local representatives of Leucopaxillus cerealis.

ibaird wrote:

15 Oct 2016

Heino, fascinating , suggesting that more observations and samples from local sources certainly would add to the sum total of knowledge. Its interesting that the four records for L. cerealis on the ALA (from Melbourne) all seemed to occur in native gardens associated with Eucalyptus. Was your closely related specimen at Commonwealth Park associated with native or introduced tree/shrub species? I'd be interested to hear from you more on what features of these closely related species tend to be most diagnostic.Unfortunately, I suspect you will say the features will be microscopic, and therefore perhaps diffiicult to discern with the naked eye.

Heino wrote:

15 Oct 2016

For my 1991 collection I noted "Numerous specimens amongst eucalypts and a mulch composed of leaf litter and woodchips". If you can get hold of the Victorian Naturalist paper that I refer to in my general comments you'll find that pages 164-165 deal with your question about the differences (some macroscopic, some microscopic) between the species/varieties of the cerealis group. There's a little bit of technical jargon but I don't think it's too bad and I don't mind providing a glossary. One online source of that paper (if you can use Informit) is http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=002778868732348;res=IELHSS. If you have problems or would like an explanation of the technical terms just send a message direct to me.

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