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Mycot

WA Gyms, tis the season

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Looking through the fieldbook I noticed this

Dung Cap Psilocybe

 

Never heard of this species. I doubt that it is active plus you make no mention of bluing.

Besides, this is a thread on gyms. :wink:

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I've found rue with its earthy, antidepressant qualities to actually make every dose of anything feel like less,

and never like more, and never weirder or stranger :scratchhead:

 

Don't know whats going on here as its widely believed that rue will make shroom trips stronger. This may be due to subjective assessments rather than something that has been systematically tested. More experiments are perhaps in order.

Some folks have reported however that rue makes shroom trips earthier and smoother.

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Reviving this thread again as there is growing interest and fascination with this genus in Australia.

As is evident in threads here, problems with identification of Australian gym species still remain with new active gym species continuing to be found.

Contributions from WA members last season are much appreciated and have been invaluable in contributing to our knowledge and with continuing input more mysteries may be resolved.

Concentrating on G.purpuratus and undescribed active WA gyms, information on hunting and location data can be found earlier in the thread.

Although mainly looking at our WA contributors, contributions from other states, re aussie active gyms are most welcome.

Gym season is on again. :)

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Just found a stack of them today...will post pics soon

very distict Green bruising

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Found these on a bit of a walk last weekend.

Some ground keepers bulldozed a patch of paper barks last year and tried to burn them in winter without much luck.

has created a nice patch for the gyms to spread into.

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On the subject of W.A gyms/season etc, anyone know if going beyond B-up waaay down will be fruitful?

Will pass though of course but anyone had experience in the southern region?

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Nice find and pics Sidewayschef. It's interesting he association with paperbark in this case.

Looking forward to the microscopy on this.

Edited by Mycot

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has it been to dry lately for gyms around the perth area

i dont have any experience hunting this species

i see they have been reported in yellogonga park thats just around the corner

was thinking bout goin for a bit of a hunt sometime in the next few days

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I went back to the same spot to pick some more on the weekend.

was a bit to damp though.

most were filled with maggots and looking rather sad

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Nice hunt Sidewayschef

Keep on the good job.

When ever I find a burned log I put one of my previous hunts in its cracks

Next year it will pay back

Spread the love mate

Edited by Idiot
  • Like 1

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Yeah, i keep spreading the stuff around this massive patch of bulldozed paperbarks.

Final tried said mushrooms on the week

quite nice indeed

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Yeah, i keep spreading the stuff around this massive patch of bulldozed paperbarks.

Final tried said mushrooms on the week

quite nice indeed

 

Nice report Sideways.

Woodchip beds of chipped paperbark may be more effective in preservation? and more rewarding in output.

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Since the list in post #10, Perth Urban Bushland Fungi have released an additional number of reports in which finds of G.purpuratus and/or G. cf purpuratus were made, these being:-

Hartfield Park Bushland 2005

John Forrest 2009

Lake Gwelup Report 2008

Paganoni Bushland 2006

Of more interest, a pattern emerges from these reports that one of the prime habitats of G.purpuratus are paperbark/Melaleuca forrests associated with rivers,lakes, swamps and wetlands. This greatly expands our range and it would be interesting whether this holds true for G.purpuratus in other states in which it is known.

Also of note is that where the type of wood upon which G.purpuratus was growing was reported, the majority were on paperbark/Melaleuca, a few instances on Banksia, and one on Casuarina.

One type of shot which we are yet to have is where G.purpuratus has been sliced in half down the center showing the inner structure and colors.

These type of shots often supply useful information in identification of gym species. Ideally they should be done on both mature and button stage specimens.

Thanks for great work everyone.

Edited by Mycot

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I have sliced up a few but my camera isnt really good enough to catch the detail.

G.purpuratus does stain up quite blue.

It is most apparent on the stem, as the purple cap just seems to turn a darker purple colour

I will try and get some larger specimens and hopefully get some good pictures of one cut in half.

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I think there is a growing number of certain pest worms for mushrooms here in Perth

Last year I found them in other mushrooms but this year they chewed up all the Gym.p that I could find.

They're white and small worms and there is 20 to 40 of them in every mushroom.

Because the mushrooms are such a taboo subject in Australia I don't think that anyone would even care if these pests extinct our beloved Gym.P

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whats interesting is the unidentified Psilocybe growing out of leaf litter in Paruna. so it aint dung cap. time to take a walk!

Edited by B_T

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These worms are likely the larval stage of mushroom flies which lay their eggs on fruitbodies.

For this reason they tend to be more prevalent in mature and over-mature specimens.

Some years are worst than others but once populations of these flies have built up and they are prevalent at a location, barring being lucky, one is left with getting to the shrooms before the flies do or before they can do much damage.

Where fruiting is associated with rain periods, gyms have been known to appear very quickly, at times within 24 hours of rain first appearing.

A thread on these worms here(all is not necessarily lost even when worms are present):- Maggoty things in subs

Left out of my last post that in Victoria, G.purpuratus has been found growing on pine.

Edited by Mycot

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Reviving this thread cause we love our gyms and there is still much work to be done on this genus in Australia. The season should be on again and additional pics of WA active gyms are most welcome. Especially of interest would be pics showing staining and pics of the fruitbody cut through the centre both young and mature.

Location data can be found earlier in this thread.

Additionally have been doing a little research and found a map of G.purpuratus occurrences Here

Of interest is that G.purpuratus is very widespread in south-west WA. Surprising is its finding in far north queensland. This would be in wetlands areas around Cairns.

Additional locations around the city of Melville,Perth are Blue Gum Lake, Piney lake and Ern Stapleton reserve.

G.purpuratus or a gym closely related has also been found in Tasmania.

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i live near allot of swampland with loads of paperbarks so next time it rains i will have to go for a walk and try and find some :)

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thanks for the link mycot

some good info there i'll definately be on the hunt for gyms a bit more this season

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can anyone give me any hints or advice on hunting G. purpuratus? I've never seen one in 7 years of shrooming even though they do grow in my area.

do you find them while looking for subs or do you have look for specific areas where they grow?

what types of habitats are they normally found in?

what months are they in season?

anyone know of locations in SA besides Port Lincoln and Big Swamp (too far from Adelaide)?

Edited by Shroom-Aura

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I've been wondering if it would be possible to innoculate old paperbark logs with some wood dowels.

 

I see no reason why this should not work and work well. Gym mycelium is hardy, resistant to competiters and agressively fast growing. A palm log about four feet long that I know has been fruiting on weekly basis for the last four weeks with a gym species. The number of fruit are not great but they occur throughout the whole length of the log. The fruits (and mycellium) tend to run along seams in the wood and this seems to be a common pattern with gym occurances.

So it should work but if you wanted many fruit then woodchip beds would be the way to go.

Edited by Mycot

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i live in 5 secs from some of the swamps mentioned in perth and have come across what i believe to be heaps of gyms,but the idea of eatin em ,na,there huge and there would be just so much mass,ive also come across what appear to be purpuratus but have not noticed staining.this year i shall take photos and prints and put em up.i havent been to keen on talking to peeps about the poss of active shrooms in the city area for obvious reasons,i live near 4 major swamps sor in perth.ALL lakes are currently drie as a bone ,w.a. is really startin to feel the drought,its a huge prob for farmer mates of mine down south,we got just bout no bloody rain last winter.i plan on doin a major mission through large parts of the sw soon and will put up photos when done.then......im getttin the hell up north to get away from the cold and go fishin.lookin forward to the sw trip as i was up north last winter,you eastern staters got it good compared to hear,when i lived in katoomba,nsw, i had subs in my backyard!!!!!!!

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I've been wondering if it would be possible to innoculate old paperbark logs with some wood dowels.

 

I have innoculated a container filled with paperbark and cardboard with G. Purpulus.

It is just baring fruits now, so stay tuned for some pictures.

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