Mushroom idenification For Grade 12 student hello this is my first post but at the moment i am doing a biology assignment in grade 12, when examining the area i came across this mushroom can any1 tell wot kind it is. it will be very helpful if any1 can thanks.
Re: Mushroom idenification For Grade 12 student You might get better luck in the Fungus & Lichen ID... Where abouts in Aus or you mate? Ed
Re: Mushroom idenification For Grade 12 student Checking with Fungus & Lichen ID is a good idea. But if you don't find help there check on Tinder Polypore. It usually grows on the sides of trees, but can also grow on fallen wood, in this case it is not restrained from being circular. "...woody perennial bracket with zones varying from dark brown in older areas to pale brown at the growing margins." (from "Mushrooms" by Thomas Laessoe & Gary Lincoff.) Of course, this describes a North American mushroom and the one you have pictured could be something else entirely. Good Luck. Dickie
What does it look like underneath - such as pores, gills, teeth? Is your assignment to identify it, or to describe an area of forest, or?
i seriouslly carn't remeber what it looked underneath. it is to describe the area (horseshoe bay, magnetic island, queensland, Australia). the area is paperbark/panadanus woodland.
You'll have to flip one over and take a close-up photo - though even then, it might not be possible to identify it. Fungus identification is tricky, often requiring things like microscopic examination of the spores, etc., more for university level courses (so I doubt your teacher will need an exact identification!). If you do handle it, wash hands afterwards! Some fungi are very poisonous.
Hard to start putting a name to it without knowing the under parts, but there are more interesting things to know about an organism than its name. You could make some intelligent/pithy observations and speculations about it based on this photo, such as what the habitat could mean for the fungus' lifestyle, noting its size, clues to age, what it might be eating, anatomical features etc. I can tell you that the two on the left have what looks like active growing edges, the whitish part at the cap rims, while the one on the right appears not to have this. Which could lead to more speculation, as to why, what happened.
I'm throwing out Phaeolus schweinitzii for consideration. See descriptions and dozens of pics on http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=524.
