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Gilled Fungi
Photo: C & D Frith
Australia's Wet Tropics Rainforest Life
Gilled Fungi:
Mycena sp.
- This is a member of the Order Agaricales.
- Toadstools and mushrooms are also referred to as Agarics or gilled fungi.
- They are a very widespread and delicate group of fungi with a highly functional
shape. The stalk holds the fruiting surface clear of the ground while the cap is for
protection from direct wetting (this can destroy the spore-producing cells).
- They are usually found growing in clusters on logs or in leaf litter on the
forest floor.
Agaric
Mushrooms and Toadstools
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The fungi that produce what most
people would call the classic 'mushrooms' and 'toadstools', with a stalk and
cap, are found mainly in a group often referred to as the 'aragics'.
-
Most of
these have feathery soft gills on the underside of the cap (below).
-
This group
includes the regular common cultivated mushrooms that we eat.
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The range is of
course enormous, for they can be tiny or huge, and any colour imaginable.
-
One of
the bioluminescent fungi in the wet tropics, Mycena chlorophanos, belongs
to this group.
Script
and Photo: Courtesy of Damon Ramsey BSc.(Zool) Biologist Guide
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