Coschi Posted April 30, 2007 Sorry i've got no pics just thought it would be a good idea to start a Melbourne based thread so all melbourne myco fans know when they start popping up and what they look like! In fact.. I saw this patch on my way to work the other day, doubt they are actives but this was a very sizable patch! Sheet my farking engrish is all over the place today, excuse me ps; if they are active don't tell me because that patch was huge and i did nothing about it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted April 30, 2007 Nothing to worry about Sphinx, they are certainly not active Looking forward to seeing some good pics guys Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coschi Posted April 30, 2007 I thought it was a little funny that such a huge patch popped up just like that, and these trees are every few meters apart, why would only one tree have had them? where do spores come from anyway? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) Didn't expect them to show themselves around my parts any time soon, everything is still overly dry, at least a few weeks at minimum, have had very little rain, with some dumps over the last few days but still pretty pathetic. This is a southerly aspect, it seems they have been there at least 2 days, no veils on any and some specimens near on fully mature as you can see in the wavy umbo where the gills are changing colour. Some wavy caps up around 6cm diameter. Stopharia aurantiaca fruited at the exact same time in the location. Other fungal activity is booming (or itching to boom ) in similar areas. Possibly a Psathyrella spp. and maybe Conocybe spp. (vague guess) Macrolepiota spp. have been fruiting for the last few weeks. Gymnopilus junonius (spell?) are fruiting well a few weeks back, suprisingly in a very dry environment and from soil (buried root?) not an above ground log. Edited April 30, 2007 by gerbil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted April 30, 2007 I thought it was a little funny that such a huge patch popped up just like that, and these trees are every few meters apart, why would only one tree have had them?where do spores come from anyway? well when a mummy mushroom loves a daddy mushroom... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coschi Posted April 30, 2007 well when a mummy mushroom loves a daddy mushroom... Hehe cute fucker, yes yes But i mean why do they only grow around june'ish ? i guess the rain.. are the spores just in the air? where did they come from? subs overseas? is this one of those questions you just don't really ask? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted April 30, 2007 They grow at this time of year because thats what their dna and genetic structure pushes them to do. The would have been brought to Oz from european settlers and their wildstock. The spores will dispurse fairly large areas (one mushroom could potentially create thousands, in ideal conditions) to help the spread of the species. Nature at its finest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) Yep sounds pretty much it sphinx. Mushrooms will take advantage when the time is right, to send up a fruit, sporulate and attract carriers of the spores such as insects, ants etc. I'd imagine it'll be similar to plants, in that each species will specifically be adapted to a certain dispersal mechanism closely linked to their function. i.e. if it needs to infect underground, it'll try and lure a creature that will go to the target, to play in it's spores and spread them like this. Others that might not need such specifics might simply be wind dispersed as their preference, i'd imagine saprophytes would do this intentionally. hmm my wording isn't overly great, i'm trying to link it to plant seed/pollen dispersal. Essentially IMO each fungal species will target it's dispersal vector, yet multiple others might come into play. If a mushroom sporulates and then conditions turn unfavourble, the mycelial mat won't be able to produce fruit and therfore reproduce sexual offspring, those spores previously expelled will germinate and form partners when conditions are right, they'd sit in the air, soil, animals (incl. human), water, bark ,rocks etc. But even then, I alike it to plants, if a tree seeds, that seed will germinate when favourable, but that doesn't mean you've lost the mother tree. I'm not fully up to date with fungal biology, but again i'd imagine a wide diversity of interactions and some species might have large lifespans and act like perennials (as as the same mycelial mat) and others might be the annuals. Each will serve their purpose and react accordingly to their specific needs. Fungal travel from island to island is highly likely IMO. I remember a few years back Aphids came into australia on wind from New zealand, spores would travel much easier. hmm that's enough bollocks from me lol :D hope it made some sense and is valid hehe. Edited April 30, 2007 by gerbil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strangebrew Posted April 30, 2007 Nice. What have the minimum temperatures been like lately in your area gerbil? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shruman Posted April 30, 2007 "The would have been brought to Oz from european settlers and their wildstock." I dont think so Ace, subs are only found in Aus & N.Z as far as Im aware they might b on other islands close by but I havent heard this, subs are closely related to P.cyanescens Blue Meanie has got a lot of good info on here bout that. but buggered if I know how shrooms get spread from continent to continent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbil Posted April 30, 2007 I can't find the exact for my area, but a station that is generally around my area is reading in the last few days around 10-20 C temps throughout the day. Last night it dropped to about 9 celcius for around 5 hours, but these mushrooms are way too advanced for that to have triggered them, so I can only guess that they fruited with a minimum of around 10C (Going by the weather station data) BUT, we do tend to get hotter and colder in this specific location than the stations around the general area read (these are still quite significant distances away) so it is likely it's been below 10 on more than one occasion lately (as a vauge guess), i've been quite cold recently at night time, but i'm a skinny bastard so not a great measure :D Am having some difficulties with the BOM site, if I find some more meaningful data i'll let you know. I know a very close location that records rain guage data, but probably not temperatures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coschi Posted April 30, 2007 I like mushrooms, they're cool Wish i was up on the biology of these fellas, perhaps someday, for now i just like to grow and eat them Edibles of course Looking forward to seeing some pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aya Posted April 30, 2007 "The would have been brought to Oz from european settlers and their wildstock."I dont think so Ace, subs are only found in Aus & N.Z as far as Im aware they might b on other islands close by but I havent heard this, subs are closely related to P.cyanescens Blue Meanie has got a lot of good info on here bout that. but buggered if I know how shrooms get spread from continent to continent. By winds and thermals. Since spores can travel through the air and can survive for extremely long periods of time they can make trips all around the world depending on the wind cycles they fall in to. They can also reach altitudes of 10km high into the atmosphere due to thermals, and will slowly fall back to the earth when a low pressure system comes along. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shruman Posted April 30, 2007 Thanks Aya, I thought that would b the case but had never seen anything on it. Come on wind blow us some azure & lib spores already! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted April 30, 2007 Since 2 corresponding spores are needed to complete the genetic sequence, wouldn't spores being carried by wind over vast distances be very unlikely to find a match where thet deposit? It would be possible of course but the chances are infenitly small. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aya Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) Since 2 corresponding spores are needed to complete the genetic sequence, wouldn't spores being carried by wind over vast distances be very unlikely to find a match where thet deposit?It would be possible of course but the chances are infenitly small. I thought spores were asexual, there for only one was needed to start the growth cycle? It seems strange that such a small (microscopic) thing would need to be in contact with another in order to reproduce, i guess that's why there are millions of spores per mushroom but i still didn't think it was for this reason. Edited April 30, 2007 by Ayahuascara Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
husk Posted April 30, 2007 Since 2 corresponding spores are needed to complete the genetic sequence, wouldn't spores being carried by wind over vast distances be very unlikely to find a match where thet deposit?It would be possible of course but the chances are infenitly small. i thought basidomycetes have asexual spores (?) so they can reproduce when the conditions are just right? yeah and i'm almost certain subaeruginosa/eucalypta/australiana are only found here and maybe NZ(?). so many questionstatements... x peace Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted April 30, 2007 I know for a fact that cubensis need 2 corresponding spores. Maybe not all fungus is the same... Got my doubts about that though. Even more so within genuses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
husk Posted April 30, 2007 I know for a fact that cubensis need 2 corresponding spores. Maybe not all fungus is the same... Got my doubts about that though. Even more so within genuses. ok, i found out that some basidomycetes can and some can't reproduce asexually... but howcome u can birth from 1 spore print if need two different spores? x Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aya Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) ok, i found out that some basidomycetes can and some can't reproduce asexually... but howcome u can birth from 1 spore print if need two different spores?x I think Harry just means 2 individual spores, not two different strains. Anyone know what Husk Harry and I cant figure out? Edited April 30, 2007 by Ayahuascara Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted April 30, 2007 Yeah a cube fruit produces 2 different spores, male and female if you like. Each spore contains part of the full genetic sequence. Each spore germinates and grows out, when the tissue of the 2 spore comes into contact with each other they fuse and the full genetic sequence is completed. Here is a pic of the life cycle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aya Posted April 30, 2007 Thanks for that Harry, always good learning something new. Peace Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
husk Posted April 30, 2007 (edited) yeah thanks! and nice figure too, is it specifically the p. cubensis cycle? x peace Edited April 30, 2007 by husk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paradox Posted April 30, 2007 i think the digram in harry's post applies to all homobasidiomycetes i.e mushrooms, puffballs etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slim Pickens Posted May 1, 2007 I think that this is a little more detailed than Harry's diagram; http://www.microbiologybytes.com/introduction/myc2.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites