​Greetings fellow Foxies,
In the fungus world, punks are large showy, bracket sporophores (fungal fruiting bodies) that usually occur on their own on the upper trunks of large eucalypts. You can download factsheets on Laetiporus portentosus /white punk and Piptoporus australiensis/curry punk (and other fungi) on this great DBCA website. These fungi cause heartwood rot and may occur on live or dead trees.

​​​White punk forms large pale to light brown, spongy brackets, often up to 30cm diameter. The underside is a pore layer, light yellow to citrus yellow in colour. Images show a range of colours and forms that I have encountered. The brackets form in late autumn. They are long-lasting, often looking fresh for several months.
Over spring and early summer, they dry out and become quite light with a chalky texture. They are usually seen in this state at the foot of the tree on which they were growing. If conditions are right, a new bracket will develop in the same place the following autumn.

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Curry punks are similar size, but less common. When fresh the bracket is bright orange, smooth or greasy on the upper surface, with a layer of pores on the underside.
The flesh is rubbery, but very juicy making the brackets quite heavy. Curry punk juice is a good dye and will stain your skin or clothing yellow.
​Brackets persist for some months, but rain tends to wash them out and they fade to a whitish colour as they age. When dry they have a distinctive curry odour, hence the common name of curry punk.
Note : This may be a beefsteak fungus Fistulina hepatica.

White punk shells were used by Noongars to transport fire. I did an experiment and discovered that they are ideal for this purpose. A lit punk barely smoulders when unattended. but ignites when blown.  

I understood that curry punks aged similarly to white punks until I found what I thought was an old and an ancient curry punk on a dead marri. Unlike white punks the sporophore was woody. 

Greetings fellow Foxies,
​​Yilliminning was once a railway community, but there is little left apart from a few ruins, a great story, and a nature reserve in pristine condition.
I have long wondered why the (defunct) Yilliminning Hall, the relocated Lutheran church, and townsite were so separated. The answer lies in a tale of two townsites, which with details of settlers in the district are described in the book The Way Through: The Story of Narrogin. O.E. Pustkuchen 1981 (from page 346).
Settlement in the district began in the early 1900s. Many settlers were immigrants that included German farmers from South Australia. The Lange family established a large farm at Wardering (now Ockley siding) and invited their South Australian friends, the Bacon family to join them. Contact between The newly arrived Bacons and local Noongars at Wardering is shown below.
The first hub of public activity was a survey of the tiny Wardering townsite and a public hall, which was built in 1907.  soon after the Narrogin-Merredin railway was built. Mr Schoolar, the first teacher  in the district,taught half the week at the rear of the hall, and the other half at the Yilliminning Rock school. The hall was also a place for church services by the various denominations.
In 1914 a Lutheran church was built, mainly by the Lange’s on their property adjoining today’s Ockley siding site. When the Lange’s left the farm, Bert Lange could not bear to see his beloved family church neglected. On his instigation, the church was removed brick by brick and rebuilt in its present location in Lock Street Narrogin.

​In 1914 Yilliminning became a junction when a train track to Kondinin was built. To cater for workers at this junction, the Yilliminning townsite was surveyed and primary school built (1914-1946). I have draped the survey diagram over an aerial photograph. Interestingly, road names reflect those in Narrogin.
My colleague Greg Durell recalls a time when there were still houses there and the school building was intact. There was also a small Noongar community. Gregs’ father told him that at one time every Thursday, Yilliminning community members would push an old car on to the road, hop in and the car was towed into Narrogin so they could do their shopping. At the end of the day, they were towed back to Yilliminning. Apparently, police were more tolerant in those days.
Today only plaques and the ruined station masters house remain.
Soil salinity has crept into the townsite, and the dam in the reserve has become saline. In 1993 as part of the Hawke government’s Decade of Landcare, the Yilliminning River Catchment Group ripped these areas and planted 5,000 salt tolerant trees and shrubs, which have thrived. This is one example of the huge amount of conservation and tree planting  done by farmers and community members with the assistance of government and industry, which has been largely forgotten.

Yilliminning Nature Reserve is in excellent condition. There are no walk trails but it is easy and very pleasant country to walk through.
The upland plain on the western end is a remarkably diverse kwongan plain, which has a wealth of flowering plants. Of particular note are a few rare coloured flower variants of Hakea prostrata near the northern side of Boundain Road

To view more wildflowers at this reserve click HERE

There is significant variation between Cortinarius species particularly with the stem and stem base. ​

Distinguishing factors for the Cortinarius genus are:-
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1. All Cortinarius have rusty brown to brown spores. Don't be fooled by gill colour, which often darkens with age.
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2. The name Cortinarius refers to a cortina (meaning curtain) of slimy webby tissue that covers the developing gills from the cap to the stem (a partial veil). As the toadstool expands this dries and collapses on to the stem to form a webby ring zone that is often stained with spores and may disappear entirely.

3. ​Developing toadstools have a slimy cap and some also have a slimy stalk. Both dry as the cap expands.
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4 The caps also fade as they expand and become dry (hygrophanous).
Cortinarius rotundisporus (elegant blue webcap) below and on the left shows this well. The sticky cap often traps tiny arthropods that crawl around eating organic matter and fungal spores.

5. Cortinarius are mycorrhizal fungi that emerge around their host trees. Cortinarius archerii occurs every winter near peg 144. Cortinarius multisporus is common around moist rocky soil under rock sheoaks, and Cortinarius erythraeus popped up in yellow sand near Eucalyptus aspersa mallees this year.

Cortinarius archeri (Archers webcap) below is a large toadstool, which varies in the presence of a cortina and ring zone.

Three less common species are shown below.
the large Cortinarius australiensus (skirt webcap) has an unusual stem ring, like a sock fitted over the lower stem. This is called a volva and is the residue from a universal veil that covers the entire toadstool before the cap expands.​​
Small Cortinarius austrovenetus is rare, and will be another highlight when I find it.

For more information see this web page.

Greeting Fellow Foxies,
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Each winter, small orange-brown Gymnopilus mushrooms emerge on and around dead wood at Narrogin, particularly in rock sheoak woodland.
The fruit body is typically reddish-brown to rusty orange to yellow, medium to large. The veil (ring of tissue around the stem below the cap) varies. It is often not obvious on older specimens, but can be well developed. They produce large amounts of ochre-brown spores that can coat the veil, stem and ground underneath. Most members of Gymnopilus grow on wood but at times may appear to be soil fungi if the wood is buried.
The name means naked pileus, which I assume refers to the relatively regular, smooth and dry cap. 

Gymnopilus is not edible.

A wet autumn-winter has really stimulated large Gymnopilus Junonius (Spectacular Rustgill) that forms clumps of overlapping mushrooms. I found three large groups in different locations.
1. The youngest find had two groups around and about a metre away from a Eucalyptus caesia mallee (that was probably planted on or near an old tree base). They resembled large orange  "button mushrooms" that live in the soil.
2. The second find was a more advanced group that had emerged at the base of a mallee street tree. Initially it was misidentified as the aggressive pathogen Armillaria luteobubalina (Australian Honey Fungus), which is very similar, but has white spores. The image below shows a coating of brown spores on cap and stems. Gymnopilus  .junosius can be a weak pathogen, but the mallee may have also been planted near a long dead and disappeared tree. 
3. The third find at the base of a dead wandoo was past its prime. The darkened fully expanded caps overlapped each other so much that they resembled oyster mushrooms.

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
I recently made my first-ever find of a beautiful fungus called Hohenbuehelia petaloides on a dolerite ridge adjoining the junction of Granite and Narrakine South roads. Despite much searching there was only one specimen that had grown from an underground rotting branch or a root.
It is an oyster fungus with gills that run down the stalk (decurrent) and has white spores. Most images on the web show a pale cap. 

A few interesting features are:

• It is named after an Austrian aristocrat: Ludwig Samuel Joseph David Alexander Freiherr von Hohenbühel Heufler zu Rasen und Perdonegg. Try saying that after a few beers? or even before!
• It has a novel way of obtaining nitrogen, which is lacking in wood: Sticky ends on the hyphae, trap nematodes in the soil to harvest their protein.
• I reckon that it resembles a wood fungus I use in my stir fries. Hang on, that has a different name and pores not gills! another poisoning averted :).

Apparently Hohenbuehelia is very similar to Pleurotis, but has a thinner, tougher cap due to a very tough layer below the top 'skin'. I guess I will find out when I find and compare a Pleurotis.