Tuesday 27 January 2009

A starfish in the forest

We went to Mt Hotham ski village for a few days, a great spot to visit in the summer to see the alpine plants flowering. And on one of the tracks we found this several of the smelly Starfish Fungus Aseroe rubra. The flies loved it. Bruce Fuhrer in A Field Guide to Australian Fungi states that the spores are distributed after passing through the insects! This is the first time I've seen this fungus so it was a highlight of the trip.

2 comments:

Denis Wilson said...

Nice find, and very early, I would have thought. Perhaps there has been some rain there?
These "Stinkhorns" are truly remarkable organisms.
Nice image, with the flies being very cooperative for you.
Cheers
Denis

Gouldiae said...

G'day Boobook,
As soon as I saw the Pic I was reminded of the smell and I haven't seen one for years.
Regards
Gouldiae
PS: You might have dropped off some of that LV rain as you went through Sale. That's the stuff we see coming each time - it gets to about Rosedale and goes north to the hills or south to the coast.