Colour in the forest

One of the most colourful members of the forest bird community in Tasmania is the Spotted Pardalote, a bird that spends almost all its time in the eucalypt canopy foraging for psyllid insects and an associated exudate called lerp. This tiny bird nests in hollows it excavates in the ground.

A colony of the bright yellow Dermocybe canaria appears in the same place every year.

Russula sp.

I find many different Russula species near home. Most are large and distinctly coloured in reds or purples.

Billardiera longiflora (purple appleberry) is one of three purple coloured fruits in the forest. The plant is one of only a few climbing plants in Tasmania and although the fruits look succulent and hang from the plants throughout the colder months, no birds or other animals are known to eat them.

Leocarpus fragilis

Although these yellow structures resemble eggs or seeds they are in fact the spore producing fruit of a slime mould. They were covering a dead fern frond and I know from previous experience that I needed to take the photograph immediately. If I'd left it for a few hours this ephemeral fruit would be gone.

Campanella olivaceonigra

This is a delicate fungus I usually see on the dead fronds of cutting grass (Gahnia grandis). This morning I found it on a eucalypt stick. Its upper side, the visible surface, is a dirty blackish colour, but the underside is pure white and beautifully patterned between the gills.

Amanita xanthocephala

This is a common and distinctive fungus that grows in the drier parts of the forest. It is a native Amanita and similar to, but smaller than the European fly agaric (Amanita muscaria).