Saturday, June 20, 2015

Coral in the Forest

I went for a walk today up Fringed Hill - one of the hills in behind Nelson. The weather was cloudy and cold, and we didn't get the best view... but we didn't get wet either and it was nice to get out in the bush for a little bit.


Looking down on Nelson



We did however see lots of fungi along the track from Third House up to the peak of Fringed Hill. These were a couple of the more interesting looking ones...








They are coral fungi. There are many different species found around the world, and over 100 found in New Zealand.  Many species of coral fungi are branched, but these ones are unbranched. They are likely from the genus Clavaria, although they also look similar to some Ramariopsis species - the two genera can only be distinguished microscopically. Clavaria species are unbranched (with the exception of one species) and may grow in clusters (like the orange one above) or singly (more like the yellow ones above, although they are still somewhat clustered). They are also noted for their often bright colours, which depending on the species, range from white through yellow, orange/salmon, dark gray and violet. They certainly are beautiful! 



Check out the neat things other people have shared this week for Reconnect with Nature

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