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A tough, dense, distinctly shaped fungus seen for the first time at this location (during a period of 6 years). I revisited the spot on May 2, 2014 and retrieved the largest "mushroom" (--they had shrunk somewhat). I replaced the last 3 photos with photos from the 2nd visit to show the inside. The fungus had a nice mushroomy aroma :-).
This fungus was growing on a rotten coconut log (Cocos nucifera) in a large semi-urban yard and garden next to a disturbed patch of remnant forest. This location is in the equatorial tropics of northern New Guinea.
Is it a secotioid fungus? "Secotioid fungi are an intermediate growth form between mushroom-like hymenomycetes and closed bag-shaped gasteromycetes, where an evolutionary process of gasteromycetation has started but not run to completion." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secotioid
Spotted on Apr 17, 2014
Submitted on Apr 24, 2014
8 Comments
Fascinating things.. I'm done looking. Hope someone can sort it out. Looks mostly like Dahlia tubers. :-)
Interesting ! Good to know about Secotioids. At first glance I thought they were tubers.
Did you remember to pick those yams someone left on a log for you a couple of weeks ago?
They do not seem connected, at least above the surface of the rotten log.
Wow!?.. some reading to do... are any of these pics 'in situ' - connected ?
I return to the spot today and retrieved one of the mushrooms and sliced it open. See the last 3 (new) photos.
Thanks gully moy. These were growing on the the same rotting coconut log(s) that have been the site for many of my fungi spottings. It was not associated with any (live) plant. They were very solid or dense. I will add another photo which shows a small section of the internal material. Thanks for the tip about secotioids.
Wow, cool.
Are you certain it's not like a plant tumour or something?
If it is a fungus, the word secotioid might help you find it.