Sunday 27 May 2007

Fungi old and new - Lake Dobson

Nineteen years ago, I photographed some fungi at Lake Dobson in the Mt Field National Park. It was pretty impressive at the time. I've managed to find two slides, although there may be others. I think these photos were probably taken on two different days during the same trip. I was staying in one of the Lake Dobson huts, which from memory cost me $12 per night, and I don't think they were even very worried about collecting that. At the end of a rainy day, when it cleared a bit, I went for a walk around the lake and found this fungus. These are scanned from Kodakchrome 25. Getting the colours vaguely similar was difficult, as the lighting/exposure was tricky. The larger slide was under-exposed.

Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 1988Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 1988
Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 1988Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 1988

Now just recently, I went to Mt Field, and when it rained I thought I'd go looking for some pretty red fungi. I found some, in a situation that is very similar to my memory of finding the fungus 19 years ago. I assume fungi can live for very long periods of time. I've compared the photos, see below, and while there are some similarities in the morphology of the tree and bark, I can't be sure it's the same tree. Anyway, I reckon it is.



Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 18 May 2007
Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 18 May 2007
Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 18 May 2007Aurantiporus pulcherrimus, Strawberry Bracket Fungus, Lake Dobson, Tasmania - 18 May 2007

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