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Project Noah Nature School
About 10cm long, white and rubbery looking. Cap formed a 3 point star shape and there were no gills under the cap.
Complete darkness, 20m deep in a limestone cave.
I have never seen this in previous years caving but there have been high levels of rain over the last few weeks.
Oh come on - I can tell you exactly where it is!! Might need to check some body measurements to find out if you'd fit down the hole though ;-)
When neither of the mycologists seemed too excited by the find I kind of lost interest...I do know a ranger down there, maybe I'll get him to see if it's still there.
Well... I would seriously consider driving to Buchan just for this but I ain't goin' into no caves !!
Just an update on this mystery. I've had 2 Victorian mycologists look at these pictures and both think it's from the Helvella family, although they can't be certain unless they get a sample. Unfortuanately I won't be making the 5hr drive down to Buchan any time soon and who knows if it's even still there. I will keep an eye out for it on future trips and make sure to grab a sample next time :-)
I'm in the process of getting a Victorian mycologist to look at these pictures to help solve this mystery :-)
This was the 3rd mushroom that I found in the same cavern - once again I had never seen it down there before: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/115...
Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria might know where to take it. You might become famous.
How exciting! Anyone know any mycologists in Victoria - I might have to drive back to Buchan this wkd :-)
It bears a strong resemblance to some of the other Helvella species. Maybe it's an undocumented species. How often do mycologists look in caves? Might be a good idea to contact the nearest mycology department.
Better you than me - I'm always uncomfortable in caves ;~)
Even if we are left with simply the ID then it's interesting because I don't think Helvella crispa has been recorded in Victoria before. You didn't grab some for scientific purposes by any chance?
Here's a link to the other spotting I found in the cave: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/115...
All the fungi were growing on their side (except for the very small ones) - the bottom of the stem looked like it had shriveled away and could not hold the weight.
Argy - the dark spots are just bits of mud.
I think I may have overestimated the depth - always hard to gauge when you are underground! We initially dropped down about 5-6m vertically then travelled around 10-15m horizontally (gaining and dropping height as we went) Far enough away from the entrance that no light could penetrate. I do recall there were some tree roots poking through in the same cavern where I found the fungus. And there was water dropping down through the tree roots and the stalactites. As I mentioned in the notes, there have just been recent floods in the area so something could definately have been washed in or maybe another caver brought something in on their shoes or clothes previously...
That's a really interesting suggestion ShannonInCT. There's only a couple of known instances of this in Australia (1970's) and they are on the other side of the continent and of course above ground. I'm amazed that this thing was nearly 70 feet underground and therefore probably no mycorrhizal association. Maybe organic stuff washed down there. It's a good mystery.
Size? In pic#1 there are dark shapes trapped in the folds - stones maybe or peridioles?
Spotted on Jun 10, 2012
Submitted on Jun 13, 2012
