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Poison Pea Flowering Plants

30/7/2016

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Greetings fellow Foxies,
In 1835 Governor James Stirling and Surveyor General James Septimus Roe were part of the Great Southern expedition from Perth to Albany via York. Near Crossman seven of their bullocks died from eating Gastrolobium poison pea plants. These were amongst the first of many thousands of sheep, cattle, and horses lost by settlers and later farmers.
However on the positive side, poison plants were so thick on lighter soils that farmers avoided them and they were fenced out, or they were an additional reason for the many reserves and remnant vegetation in the Great Southern, compared with the wheatbelt.
The toxin is Fluor acetate, the active part of 1080 poison that is used for controlling feral rabbits, cats and foxes. Poison plants are safe to touch, but do not eat or suck them, particularly the flowers and seeds. Native animals have developed resistance and bronze wing pigeon thrives on the seeds.
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There are three rules of thumb to distinguish Gastrolobium poisons from the many other benign yellow and orange flowering pea flowered bushes.

  1. Leaves are joined to the branch together in groups of 2 to 5 emerging roughly opposite each other, at regular intervals along the stem. No alternate leaves.
  2. Where the leaf joins the stem (leaf axil), there is a short spine (stipules) on either side of the join.
  3. Flowers arise from a group (an inflorescence) at the ends of branches, not the leaf axil.
     
    These are shown on sandplain poison Gastrolobium bilobum, (the most common poison at Dryandra) on the left.
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 The 3 poisons below from Foxes Lair share these features.
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Bullock Poison Gastrolobium trilobum (left) is a very spiny bush with small flowers that is generally found on relatively bare areas around mafic (reddish stony and steep) breakaways.

It does not occur in Foxes Lair.






          The following pea plants are not poisons.

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flowers in axils - no stipules - leaves opposite +
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flowers terminal + leaves not opposite - no stipules -
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inflorescence terminal + leaves not opposite - no stipules -
Isotropis cuneifolia (lamb poison) below is a herb with some strains that contain cyanide and other Isotropis species are not to be nibbled.
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Slime Moulds

17/7/2016

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PictureFuligo septica
Imagine that you are lying in bed and an amorphous mass of protoplasm (cell contents) called a plasmodium engulfed and digested you. Well if you were a microorganism or organic matter, this is what a slime mould would do.
A definition is "A simple organism that consists of an acellular mass of creeping jelly-like protoplasm containing nuclei, or a mass of amoeboid cells. When it reaches a certain size it forms a large number of spore cases (sporangia)."
Slime moulds are amazing organisms where individuals can join together and coordinate like they have a brain. When the protoplasm is on the move one can see the contents streaming backwards and forwards  under a  microscope. They are not fungi but somewhere between them and protozoa. They occur in the bush and in lawns; red and white ones and who could forget the yellow ‘dog vomit’ slime mould.

Below is a strawberry slime mould Tubifera ferrugininosa,which I found in a huge dead marri trunk. The white material has come together to form the red fruiting mass that forms globular spore containers. As they mature the mass becomes brown, sheds spores and fades.
See below that an amalgamated slide show of progression of a white slime mould from clear protoplasm to spore balls
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Strawberry slime mould early spore mass
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Mature spores
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Spores shed
 Images below show a slime mould  forming spore capsules, maturing Fuligo septica, and yellow spore bodies of Lycogala epidendrum.
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stalked spore balls open showing spores
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Dog Vomit Slime Mould/Fuligo septica
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Lycogala epidendrum spore balls
This slideshow illustrates the transition from clear protoplasm to a powdery spore mass
Recently I found an unusual one  called a False Puffball Reticularia lycerpodon, which is described in this blog
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Mushrooms and Toadstools

11/7/2016

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Greetings fellow Foxies,
I am in a state of bliss and satori (heightened consciousness) from contemplating a Foxes Lair fungal cornucopia. Before the inevitable comment that I have been imbibing magic mushrooms, the answer is no, I am blown away by numbers and diversity of these wonderful organisms in the Lair this year. 
 in stories, toadstools referred to dome shaped usually poisonous fungi as opposed to edible brown gilled mushrooms.

Do you know why fungi have gills and pores? This is because fungal spores need moisture to develop and a tiny percentage will succeed. Gills and pores enable fungi to maximise surface area (sort of like our lungs) for spore production and dispersal.
Alas this is an oversimplification and some brown gilled 'mushrooms' in the genus Agarics (agarics) are not edible  

White button mushrooms Agaricus bisporus  are intensively raised, but  field mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) are European immigrants that are also found in fertile pasture paddocks, lawns etc. I have wonderful memories of picking great numbers in pastures and eating freshly made mushroom soup (complete with sand for roughage). Alas with generally dryer seasons, fewer and less clover dominant pastures, and a pampered population that can’t handle sand, these days have gone. They only occur in fertile areas of Foxes lair, mainly on reddish soils in the arboretum. 
It is safest if you buy mushrooms, but if have some to try, following clues, then get another opinion. 
• Gills are brown to black in developed mushrooms and have a dark brown spore print (leave one gills down on a plate or sheet of paper overnight).
• Mushrooms in Agaricus grow from the ground and are not found sprouting off logs, trees, or stumps.
• They have pale to brownish caps.
• The developing mushroom has a veil over the gills that splits to leave a characteristic ring around the upper stem.
• Gills are not attached to the stem, which easily separates from the cap. Cap not slimy.
• Tissue goes brown if cut or bruised.

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dark brown gills and collar on stem
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Fleshy cap may be white when developing
Lookalikes that are generally called toadstools are amanitas and lepiotoid fungi. Some amanitas have great names like death cap, and destroying angel – a hint as to their effect if eaten. Compared with mushrooms amanitas have a similar shape, palish dry caps and similar looking gills and a ring around the upper stem, but also have white/pale/yellow gills and a white spore print. Amanitas also start development from an egg like structure that splits as they grow to leave an upper stem collar and lower stem shreds, collar or cup and often has a bulbous base. You have to dig them up. As many amanitas are mycorrhizal, they are common in woodland, particularly on lighter soils
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Species with yellowish gills and stem, bulbous base
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white gills collar and basal cup
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Lepiotoid toadstools look similar to amanitas and have a white or green spore print, but lack the lower cup, ring and may not have the upper stem ring.
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Shaggy parasol Chlorophyllum brunneum a decomposer found in lawns etc
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White gills and spore print; collar and stains red when bruised
I found this wonderful Archers Cortinar (Cortinarius archeri) below in the arboretum yesterday. Purple when emerging, then the top changes to a rough beige colour.
click  HERE for more information on agarics
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Purple when emerging
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Cap whitens and roughens with age
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Orange free gills
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Cross sections
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    Doug Sawkins is a friend of Foxes Lair 

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