Eucalyptus is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of Eucalyptus are trees, often mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia and Angophora, they are commonly known as eucalypts. Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard or stringy, the leaves have oil glands, and the sepals and petals are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".
The Fungi of Australia form an enormous and phenomenally diverse group, a huge range of freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats with many ecological roles, for example as saprobes, parasites and mutualistic symbionts of algae, animals and plants, and as agents of biodeterioration. Where plants produce, and animals consume, the fungi recycle, and as such they ensure the sustainability of ecosystems.
Mallee are trees or shrubs, mainly certain species of eucalypts, which grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than 10 m (33 ft). The term is widely used for trees with this growth habit across southern Australia, in the states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, and has given rise to other uses of the term, including the ecosystems where such trees predominate, specific geographic areas within some of the states and as part of various species' names.
Mycena galopus, commonly known as the milky mycena, milking bonnet or milk-drop mycena, is an inedible species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae of the order Agaricales. It produces small mushrooms that have grayish-brown, bell-shaped, radially-grooved caps up to 2.5 cm (1 in) wide. The gills are whitish to gray, widely spaced, and squarely attached to the stem. The slender stems are up to 8 cm (3 in) long, and pale gray at the top, becoming almost black at the hairy base. The stem will ooze a whitish latex if it is injured or broken. The variety nigra has a dark gray cap, while the variety candida is white. All varieties of the mushroom occur during summer and autumn on leaf litter in coniferous and deciduous woodland.
Macrolepiota clelandii, commonly known as the slender parasol or graceful parasol, is a species of mushroom-forming fungus in the family Agaricaceae. The species is found in Australia and New Zealand, where it fruits singly or in small groups on the ground in eucalypt woodlands, parks, and roadsides. It is a tall mushroom up to roughly 20 cm (8 in), with a broad cap covered with distinctive rings of dark brown scales. The whitish gills on the cap underside are closely spaced and free from attachment to the slender stipe, which has a loose ring on its upper half, and a bulbous base. The edibility of the mushroom is not known with certainty, but closely related parasol mushrooms are edible and some are very sought after.
Mycena interrupta is a species of mushroom. It has a Gondwanan distribution pattern, being found in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Chile. In Australia, it is found in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland, where its distribution is limited to Lamington National Park.
Mycena galericulata is a mushroom species commonly known as the common bonnet, the toque mycena, the common mycena or the rosy-gill fairy helmet. The type species of the genus Mycena was first described scientifically in 1772, but was not considered a Mycena until 1821. It is quite variable in color, size, and shape, which makes it somewhat difficult to reliably identify in the field. The mushrooms have caps with distinct radial grooves, particularly at the margin. The cap's color varies from grayish brown to dark brown and the shape ranges from bell-like to bluntly conical to flattened with an umbo. The stem is hollow, white, tough and thin, without a ring and often roots deeply into the wood on which it grows. The gills are white to grayish or even pinkish when mature and are connected by distinct cross-veins. The caps can reach 4 cm (1.6 in) in diameter, and have a mealy odor and taste. The spore print is white and the gills are pink at maturity, which can lead to possible confusion with species of the genus Pluteus. M. galericulata mushrooms grow mostly in clusters on the well-decayed stumps of deciduous and coniferous trees from spring to autumn. The species can generally be considered inedible. It is common and widespread in the entire temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, but it has also been reported from Africa.
Marasmius elegans, commonly known as the velvet parachute, is a species of fungus in the family Marasmiaceae. It has a reddish-brown cap, and a whitish stipe with white hairs at the base. It can be found in eucalypt forests in Australia.
Mycena austrofilopes is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It has been found growing in leaf litter under Eucalyptus trees in Victoria, Australia.
Mycena nargan, commonly known as the Nargan's bonnet, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, and the sole member of the section Nargan in the genus Mycena. Reported as a new species in 1995, it is known predominantly from Southern Australia. The saprobic fungus produces mushrooms that grow on well-decayed wood, often on the underside of wood lying in litter. The dark chestnut-coloured caps are covered with white, easily removed scales, and reach diameters of up to 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. The pale, slender stems are up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and have white scales at the base. On the underside of the cap, the cream-coloured gills are widely spaced and bluntly attached to the stem. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.
Mycena stylobates, commonly known as the bulbous bonnet, is a species of inedible mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Found in North America and Europe, it produces small whitish to gray fruit bodies with bell-shaped caps that are up to 15 mm (0.6 in) in diameter. The distinguishing characteristic of the mushroom is the fragile stipe, which is seated on a flat disk marked with distinct grooves, and fringed with a row of bristles. The mushrooms grow in small troops on leaves and other debris of deciduous and coniferous trees. The mushroom's spores are white in deposit, smooth, and ellipsoid-shaped with dimensions of 6–10 by 3.5–4.5 μm. In the development of the fruit body, the preliminary stipe and cap structures appear at the same time within the primordium, and hyphae originating from the stipe form a cover over the developing structures. The mycelia of the mushroom is believed to have bioluminescent properties.
Mycena maculata, commonly known as the reddish-spotted Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, have conic to bell-shaped to convex caps that are initially dark brown but fade to brownish-gray when young, reaching diameters of up to 4 cm. They are typically wrinkled or somewhat grooved, and have reddish-brown spots in age, or after being cut or bruised. The whitish to pale gray gills also become spotted reddish-brown as they mature. The stem, up to 8 cm (3 in) long and covered with whitish hairs at its base, can also develop reddish stains. The mycelium of M. maculata has bioluminescent properties. The saprobic fungus is found in Europe and North America, where it grows in groups or clusters on the rotting wood of both hardwoods and conifers. The edibility of the fungus is unknown. Although the species is known for, and named after its propensity to stain reddish, occasionally these stains do not appear, making it virtually indistinguishable from M. galericulata.
Mycena cystidiosa is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1964, it is known only from New Zealand and Australia. The fruit bodies have a broadly conical small white cap up to 12 mm (0.5 in) wide, with distantly spaced cream-coloured gills on the underside. The stipe is particularly long, up to 20 cm (8 in), with an abundant covering of white hairs at the base. The species is known for its abundant rhizomorphs—long, root-like extensions of mycelia.
Pholiota communis is a species of fungus in the family Strophariaceae. It is found in Southeastern Australia. The small brown mushrooms appear in leaf litter of pines and eucalypts in autumn and winter.
Roridomyces austrororidus, commonly known as the austro dripping bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1962 by American mycologist Rolf Singer, it is found in South America, New Zealand, and Australia, where it grows on rotting wood.
Mycena atrata is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Found in Australia, it was first mentioned in the literature by mycologists Cheryl Grgurinovic and A.A. Holland in 1982, but this was invalid according to the rules of botanical nomenclature, as it lacked a formal description in Latin. In 2003, Grgurinovic formally described the species in her monograph on south-eastern Australian Mycena species.
Russula lenkunya is a mushroom in the genus Russula. Found in South Australia, it was first described scientifically by mycologist Cheryl Grgurinovic in 1997.
Mycena fuhreri is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in Tasmania, Australia, where it grows in leaf litter under Allocasuarina trees. Described in 2003 by mycologist Cheryl Grgurinovic, the specific epithet fuhreri honours mycologist Bruce A. Fuhrer.
Mycena albidocapillaris is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae that is found in Australia. It was first described scientifically in 1933 by mycologist John Burton Cleland, who named it Mycena subcapillaris. The type collection was made in 1922 on Mount Lofty. It was later discovered that the name was invalid, as Paul Hennings use of that name in 1899 took precedence. Cheryl Grgurinovic and Tom May republished the species with the new replacement name Mycena albidocapillaris in 1997.
Mycena clarkeana is a species of bonnet fungus in the genus Mycena. Originally endemic to Australia, it can now be found in New Zealand also.
