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Phellinus sp. Bracket Fungi

Phellinus sp.

Photo by Neil Ross
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Phellinus sp. wood-rotting bracket fungi. Roughly the same size as my clenched fist, or slightly larger. Cracked, wooden, zonate appearance, and same colour as the tree it was found on. Apparently it is a polypore, although no signs of pores that I could see. My first spotting of this variety of bracket and species, and probably one of my more unusual finds. I think it's a very handsome specimen and looks really cool :-) Other specimens found with the reserve - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/271136018

Habitat:

Native bushland in the Mt. Coot-tha Forest Reserve. Spotted on the Simpson Falls Track, via the Stringybark Track. Area dry and trees native eucalypts.

Notes:

The Aboriginal people of Australia used this species of fungi for medicinal purposes, and also for tinder. I myself would keep it as a pet. I think it has character, and its name would be.....?...... Nugget :-)

Reference Links:

Phellinus, Aboriginal use of fungi

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (11)
kdpicturemaker
But remember Neil, some things you just don't want to touch even with a ten foot pole! Always be wary & not interfere too much - things I say to myself. Then like yourself wish I'd spent more time and looked closer.
Neil Ross
These are the things I'm starting to learn, and one is to be more observant. Another is not to be frightened to touch things. I see a lot of things when I upload to my computer, but by then it's too late. I did notice the debris at the time but I didn't dig around. A constant cycle of not paying attention and then kicking myself later. Oh dear :-/
kdpicturemaker
That is a old crusty one Neil! Thanks for link to it. Does it have termites or borers around it in the tree itself & around the sides of the fungi? There's a lot of orange/brown chewed wood in tracks around it. At a glance it looks like termite damage. A flick of some of the surrounding bark will show them up if they're termites. It's all really interesting - you think you've got a spotting of just one organism & find there's several.
Neil Ross
Thanks. One of my favourite fungi spottings. I even gave this one a pet name LOL
Neil Ross
Cheers, Mark. I've been Googling like mad. I'll check these out. Many thanks :-)
Mark Ridgway
Sorry I didn't see this one Neil. It looks a classic Phellinus sp. to me. The heavy cracking is indicative and it's on a favoured eucalyptus species. Aboriginal medicine and tinder. http://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/aboriginal.html You could choose from this list http://bie.ala.org.au/species/b65c2be1-4496-4d2b-8b75-350e779431f0#classification (not only 2 are recorded here :-)
Neil Ross
Ahhh, a lead. Thanks very much, gully.moy. That gives me a place to start.
Photographed
PublishedApril 13, 2014

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