enough rain?

[Light&Love]

Hey guys

Looks like i got the rest of the year off, so am planning a cube hunt(microscopy only) with a friend about sometime in the middle of next week. Is this enough of a rain to get a good amount of cubes?

http://weather.smh.com.au/local.jsp?lt=wzdist&lc=n01

Also, do i really need to go all the way up the border of nsw to find cubies, or can i stick to Sydney? We're planning on camping, so either way it doesnt bother me. Ill go wherever the higher sstrike rate takes me!

Thanks guys, Peace.

[samadhi_sam]

Hey guys

Looks like i got the rest of the year off, so am planning a cube hunt(microscopy only) with a friend about sometime in the middle of next week. Is this enough of a rain to get a good amount of cubes?

http://weather.smh.com.au/local.jsp?lt=wzdist&lc=n01

Also, do i really need to go all the way up the border of nsw to find cubies, or can i stick to Sydney? We're planning on camping, so either way it doesnt bother me. Ill go wherever the higher sstrike rate takes me!

Thanks guys, Peace.

 

Wow, this sounds like a fun trip, I'd love to get my metaphoric tent out and join you!

I have found cubies as far south as Martinsville (west of Morriset) however that location isn't mycophile friendly in recent years.

Will be watching this thread keenly

Love and Peace, Sam

[Naycha]

I've been finding a few cubes lately, but I'm up near Coffs Harbour

[Kevlar]

We have had quite a bit of rain in melbourne and it has been cool.

Might have another look around the paddocks.

Cheers

[psilosophical]

We have had quite a bit of rain in melbourne and it has been cool.

Might have another look around the paddocks.

Cheers

 

Sorry but i think melbourne is too far south for cubes and pan cyanescens

[DarkSpark]

just had rains here on the coast, i am thinking about checking a couple of places out this morning. some new places i haven't tried before, hopefully they are fruitful ;)

[Sonny Jim]

Hi Loveandlight!

My nome have never found any reason to go to far away from sydney metro, to find potent, blues staining dung lovers.

My nome finds a good indicator of "enough rain" is after at least threee days of strong rain. I find that when my local park lawn gets over run with hot weather species and puff ball it time for my nome to check his spots for dung lovers.

I find when the conditions are right it is not hard to come home with a shopping bag or two full of specimens for microscopy.

BUT THEY ARE NOT CUBES. CUBES DO APEAR AT MY NOMES "CLOSE TO SYDNEY DUNG LOVERS SPOT" BUT ONLY IN NEGLIGEABLE QUANTITIES.

What he tends to find in great abundance is a species of fungus that sems to be of the paneolus genre. My nome has not determined their exact species yet (even though he has been plundering the spot for close to ten years). Slack, good for nothing little bastid.

None the less he has assured my beyond a doubt, that they are more potent than most cubes (by weight) and that they are certainly much easier on the gut. He thinks it is probably because they are much smaller and easier to digest, among other things.

My nome lost oll his photos of this species but he has found some on google images that look exactly like then. The are often very strong blueing mushrooms, almost as dark as a good sub.

My nome has found that these paneolus type species are common in the out scirts of sydney metro, in cow fiels. He reckons your best bet is to find a cow paddoch that is situated in a narrow valley. One that holds the humidity and heat longer than a flat open cow field does. Cow pqats in lush grass around damms are also worth a look.

My nome has found plenty of ideal micro-climates in the far west, north area just out of syndey. He doesnt like to give his hard earned spots away, but has been kind enough to suggest that you check out cow fielgs by the hawkberry river (west of Windsor) also he say that that cow paddock on the flood plain of Wisemans Ferry are a good bet to.

probably two diferent species in those images but that is what that look like.

AS with any wild harvesting of mushrooms it is important to understand that an incorrectly identified mushroom can be poisonous if consumed. So make sure you bring a packaged lunch, so u dont get hungry and become temted to consume a potentially poisonous mushroom. This should not be a problem as I am sure someone interested in mycroscopy would have the good sense to take some lunch and H20 with them

Ps.. I would love to hear from anyone who find these type of dung lover on the outskirts of sydney metro.

[JDanger]

^Heard a rumour those same dung lovers have been found at a certain cow-loving high school in Sydney's Hill's District. Only found in March-April, though. Not nearly so many in recent years.

[yes, pedantic]

Edited December 23, 2009 by JDanger

[Birdman]

^Heard a rumour those some dung lovers have been found at a certain cow-loving high school in Sydney's Hill's District. Only found in March-April, though. Not nearly so many in recent years.

 

I went to a certain high school in the hills district where this rumour started..pretty sure it is what it is..

mayb

[kindness]

That's some really cool information, thanks Sonny Jim. Perhaps the next time you go out hunting you could take a spore print or two for macroscopy purposes. They look like Panaeolus Cyanescens. Thats great that they live that far south.

Happy Hunting bro

edit to say bring your camera and take some macro pics next time you go, gives you a reason to be there, (in case you are asked) and brings joy, (and jealously ;) around these parts... bring a tripod too if you can... just a little one, or a foam coffee cup will suffice if you don't have a tripod as was suggested to me some time ago.

peace

Edited December 23, 2009 by meanies

[vigro]

SWIM said there hasn't been much around far-north nsw which is sadly the first year in all his/her experience.

Looking forward to '10 though, SWIM believes weird weather patterns and flooding early during the year may have something to do with it. Any comments?

[Sonny Jim]

Thanks meanies!

I had some great photos, taken about 3 years ago but they got wiped when my hard drive was formatted (not by me).

I have since moved a little further south (Illawarra) and was hoping to find some spots closer to home this summer. I am truly surprised that no one else has reported finding potent, blues staining Panaeolus genre around Sydney metro. IME they are in abundance and a very desirable species to collect and study.

I will try my hardest to get some pics and spore prints, if and when I find them in my new location. If we get some definite rain and heat, I will try and make a trip back to my old spots.

IMPORTANT

There are also "look alike" species that I find regularly along side the blue stainers on the same cow pat. They really are quite difficult to distinguish, without inducing a small amount of blueing on their stems by mildly bruising them. For that reason I recommend inspecting each mushroom collected within a few hours of picking. This can be very laborious but important. I find it makes things slightly easier when I bruise the stems in roughly the same place on each mushroom as they are picked. It can still take a few hours, but you really have to be systematic and thorough with this job.

The only other thing I can tell you about these blue staining Panaeolus species is that I didn’t just stumble upon these dung loving blue stainers. I was told about them by a man who collected them during the 60-70's. He talked about them as if they were reasonably well known. So there must be plenty of people out there who know of them. In fact, I had found several great spots for these Panaeolus genre before I ever found my first good sub patch in Sydney metro.

So IME, people living in Sydney metro, have both a reliable winter wood lover species and an equally reliable summer, dung loving species. At least my Nome and his rat bag mates do. So I implore Sydney metro mycologists to get out their topographical maps and find some cow paddocks in humid narrow valleys.

[psilosophical]

Thanks meanies!

I had some great photos, taken about 3 years ago but they got wiped when my hard drive was formatted (not by me).

I have since moved a little further south (Illawarra) and was hoping to find some spots closer to home this summer. I am truly surprised that no one else has reported finding potent, blues staining Panaeolus genre around Sydney metro. IME they are in abundance and a very desirable species to collect and study.

I will try my hardest to get some pics and spore prints, if and when I find them in my new location. If we get some definite rain and heat, I will try and make a trip back to my old spots.

IMPORTANT

There are also "look alike" species that I find regularly along side the blue stainers on the same cow pat. They really are quite difficult to distinguish, without inducing a small amount of blueing on their stems by mildly bruising them. For that reason I recommend inspecting each mushroom collected within a few hours of picking. This can be very laborious but important. I find it makes things slightly easier when I bruise the stems in roughly the same place on each mushroom as they are picked. It can still take a few hours, but you really have to be systematic and thorough with this job.

The only other thing I can tell you about these blue staining Panaeolus species is that I didn’t just stumble upon these dung loving blue stainers. I was told about them by a man who collected them during the 60-70's. He talked about them as if they were reasonably well known. So there must be plenty of people out there who know of them. In fact, I had found several great spots for these Panaeolus genre before I ever found my first good sub patch in Sydney metro.

So IME, people living in Sydney metro, have both a reliable winter wood lover species and an equally reliable summer, dung loving species. At least my Nome and his rat bag mates do. So I implore Sydney metro mycologists to get out their topographical maps and find some cow paddocks in humid narrow valleys.

 

yeah, they are definatly pan. cyanescens. and the look alikes you speak of i believe are pan. antillarum, ive often stumbled across these in the same location as the blue stainers.

EDIT: luckily they are non-toxic as they are easily mistaken for cyanescens

Edited December 28, 2009 by psilosophical

[Chiral]

Mid North coast between Bulladelah and Smiths lake, a friends small patch almost at the side of the road off edge of cow pasture, indicators that many many more about to fruit.

[DarkSpark]

for anyone interested went for a hunt with a mate today in a couple of local paddocks... no luck initially then stumbled upon a "goldtop mine" mushiees everywhere, the rain and sun rain and sun rain and sun that has bin going on has done the trick... had around 15g fresh tonight, did the tea and strained it off twice, then on the third go around i take half a lemon and hand squeeze the juice in. I pretend that the chunks of mushie are the chunks of lemon. worked a treat will post back some piccies a bit later of some of the haul, hoping to take a cam out "in the field"(pun intended) next time as there were a fuckload of other cool looking fungi/mushies around. I just focused solely on the goldies as i dont know enuf about any of the others to risk anything... found a few really cool looking almost fluoro orange mushies growin wich tripped me out should have a pic somewhere will again do all the fiddly bits tomorrow.

in short, yea the current weather(in S/E QLD) is perfect for all you guys itching to get your microscopes looking at some fresh sporeprints *cough*