Spectacular rustgills

Description:

It's easy to understand why these are called spectacular as this group of fungi was so large and brightly coloured I spotted it from the other side of the sports park. Still young the caps were already 120mm wide. The orange-gold colour on top was dazzling. They were just starting to show the signs of scales on top but still felt quite smooth and rubbery. The gills and stem were a paler version with obvious scaliness on the stem and the typical yellow-ochre coloured spore was already colouring the fine ring just down from the cap. The stems were not much narrower than the cap width at this stage - maybe 60mm thick. Height was about 180mm.

Habitat:

On the margin of a local sports park land among some large landscaping rocks.

Notes:

By far the most spectacular specimens I have found so far in 6 spottings. They turn darker brown-tan as they grow older. Formerly known as Gymnopilus spectabilis, or Pholiota spectabilis. Common names also include Laughing Jim - possibly because some sub-species are known to contain psilocybin and similar chemistry is found in kava. Individual specimens can weigh up to several pounds. Records from Australia http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Gymnopilus...