Scarlet Bracket Fungi

Description:

This orange polypore is a common wood-decaying fungi, frequently seen on dead logs and smaller branches in habitats ranging from quite moist to arid. Although quite variable in size, it generally forms brackets to about 10cm by 5cm in size, and when fresh is bright orange in colour (aging sometimes almost to a bleached white, especially in the open). PS: There's also another species of polypore in Australia (Pycnoporus sanguineus) which is very similar in appearance to P. coccineus but occurs mainly in northern Australia. Apparently, they are very difficult to tell apart.

Habitat:

Found these specimens on a dead log by Northbrook Creek whilst looking for platypus. No platypus, but fungi galore. The area was lush and green due to frequent rains these past couple of months.

Notes:

The cream coloured fungi on the right hand side of the log hasn't been identified yet. Will check them out next time I'm out that way. I didn't notice them until I viewed this photo, although I did get some pics of this species growing elsewhere. I like the stripe. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/367...