Partial Veil

Very pretty 🩷 Cuphophyllus cheelii / Rose-pink Waxcaps seen in Warrandyte yesterday afternoon.

on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung country, 11/07/26

Not the most breathtaking of all the waxcaps but this was easily the most significant and exciting find of the walks I ran at Tanja Lagoon Camp Australia for fungifeastival

This is Hygrocybe aurantipes, a species that is listed as Vulnerable in NSW and our find at Tanja fills in huge gap in it's known distribution. The closest known populations are around 425km north near Sydney (NSW) and then about 550km away in West Gippsland (VIC). I believe it is the first time it has been documented in the region 😇

This turned about to be a very healthy population that was widespread across a large and grassy/mossy hillside dominated by little shrubby tea trees. This hillside turned out to be a hotspot for many different Waxcaps in the family Hygrophoraceae, lovely spot ❤️

Hygrocybe aurantipes is a fairly distinctive species with an olive-green pileus, yellow-orange stipe and yellow-cream lamellae. Unlike many of the other Hygrocybe which can be pretty morphologically cryptic..
I've included photos of H. aurantipes at varying maturities and stages here which are hopefully helpful :)

It is possible that this species is more common than we realise as many of the places it may occur have had very few people documenting fungi. I noticed that the fungal biodiversity of the Sapphire Coast in NSW seems to be quite poorly documented and I wish I'd had more time to look around! One day!

So keep an eye out for this species, it seems most common in southern VIC and also in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. But if people start looking for this species, we will hopefully find it is far more widespread than we currently realise.

Definitely a species to put on iNaturalist if you stumble across them, especially a new population!

Important to note that Hygrocybe aurantipes is a listed species in NSW and cannot be picked without a special permit.

on Djiringanj country / early July, '26

I had such a great time running walks last weekend for fungifeastival at Tanja Lagoon Camp Australia on South Coast NSW. What a seriously beautiful part of the world..

Conditions were surprisingly dry after being in the mushroom paradise that has been southern VIC for the past few months but we managed to find some damp habitats that were still producing fungi from the humidity of being on the edge of the lagoon and on a mossy south facing hillside. We actually found a lot of cool species here! The mossy, grassy hillside turned out to be fantastic habitat for several uncommon Waxcaps (Hygrophoraceae).

It was lovely to meet everyone from the region who had traveled to come on the walk and say hi! I can't wait to come back next year 🌞

Here's a few of the photos I managed to get while running the walks 😎

1. Hydnangium carneum - this is one of many native secotioid/"truffle-like" species. Hydnangium are very closely related to Laccaria which are common gilled mushrooms.
2. Cuphophyllus cheelii
3. A keen eyed fungi finder noticed a pale fuzz on these poops. I got my camera out and turned out they were Pilobolus - one of my favourite tiny fungi!
4-5. Gloioxanthomyces chromolimoneus - a tongue twister of a name 😂
6. A very vibrant Hygrocybe sp.
7. P. subaeruginosa with a singular Cortinarius species that was growing next to them. Can you spot the Cortinarius? It is the third mushroom from the left (notice the rusty brown ring)
8. P. subaeruginosa
9. Hygrophorus involutus (this one I actually saw on the hillside after our walks)
10. Cheilymenia sp. - lots of these little orange eyelashed fungi on wombat dung
11. Hygrocybe sp.
12. Coprinopsis sp. on dung
13. Spinellus sp.
14. Aleurina ferruginea
15. Coastal Spotted Gum woodland with a dominant understory of Burrawang Cycads at Tanja Lagoon Camp Australia
16. Mossy hillside with a lot of tea tree 🤩

on Djiringanj country, 4-5/07/26

Thanks again to fungifeastival and especially to Annette Kennewell for organising everything 🙏

Super fun mushrooms walks in the beautiful hills on the western edge of the Macedon Ranges last weekend. These dry but seasonally damp forests can be a surprising mecca for macrofungi diversity in the cold, wet months of the year. The winter months are seriously so colourful for mushrooms 🌈

Here's just a few of the fungi we saw!

1. Cortinarius austrovenetus was common 💚
2. Our first time seeing Porpolomopsis lewellinae on a walk this year! I found these in a special patch where I had seen them 3 years previous. Nice to find them again!
3. A log covered in Snow Fungus / Tremella fuciformis
4. A little log bedazzled in Chlorociboria
5. Cortinarius rotundisporus under 365nm UV light
6. Ramaria lorithamnus
7. Gliophorus sp. - another first for our walks this year
8. Amanita xanthocephala
9. Amanita luteolovelata / Yellow-veiled Amanita
10. Cortinarius sp.
11. Cortinarius austroviolaceus
12. Mycena epipterygia (species complex)
13. Coprinopsis section Niveae
14. Cortinarius sp.
15. A mystery Boletaceae
16. Lactarius eucalypti
17. Cortinarius archeri feeling goopy
18. Cortinarius persplendidus
19. A mystery species of Cortinarius - I've seen this species a few times this year. I am not sure if it has been described yet.
20. mystery species in Amanita section Validae

on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung country, 27-28/06/26 🍄

July dates are out!

Come for a walk with Jeremy Hegge to see fascinating fungi, learn about their ecology, understand the puzzle of mushroom identification and just how little we know about the incredible fungal diversity of Australia! We also debunk many of the myths surrounding this mysterious kingdom of life.

Winter is a great time of year to get out into the drier woodlands and forests of southern VIC, expect a lot of colour! 🍄🌈

Tickets in bio / $80pp.

Tours last for approximately 2.5 hours.

13 people max per tour.

Walks are for 15 years and older (under 18's must have a guardian).

Pets cannot attend walks and locations cannot be accessed by public transport.

As always, thanks to Jacob Zinman-Jeanes for the poster design.

* I aim to continue running walks further into Winter and Spring but as we typically expect to see less macrofungal diversity then, these walks will be advertised differently🌻

Just a few of the mushrooms seen one afternoon back in March this year. These are all from a beautiful patch of old growth Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus moorei) temperate rainforest on the misty and mossy New England Plateau, NSW.

1. Calostoma rodwayi
2. Entoloma tomentosolilacinum
3. Urnula sp.
4. Lactifluus leonardii
5. Vibrissea aff. dura
6. a mix on an embank of tiny Cantharellus, Craterellus and the little pleurotoid Lactifluus genevieveae
7. Purpureocillium atypicola which will be growing on a buried spider
8. Pulveroboletus sp.
9. Cortinarius sp.
10. Helvella sp.

March, '26 / on Gambalamam/Gumbaynggirr country.

Some drippy Candelolepiota I found this afternoon under a recently burned log out near Gisborne / Macedon Ranges.

on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung country, 27/06/26

A few of the mushrooms I saw last Saturday afternoon after our morning walk 🍄 on the Mornington Peninsula

1. Entoloma tomentosolilacinum
2-3. Entoloma rodwayi
4-5. Pseudohydnum tasmanica
6-7. Neobarya agaricicola
8. Serpula sp.
9. the taxonomic history on these fleshy polypores seems like a bit of a mess but probably Ryvardenia campyla?
10. Mycena subgalericulata

on Bunurung country, 20/06/26 🌊

It was a nice change of scenery in the sub-coastal / misty, damp and sandy hills of the Mornington Peninsula on last weekend's walks! It was particularly interesting to see some species which seemed to be common here but I don't often see elsewhere 🤩
Thankfully we still have a few of these precious remnants of magic forest left amongst the mass clearing of the Mornington Peninsula. I love the macrofungi biodiversity down here 🌊 ☀️ ☁️

1. two different Russula / Brittlegills species flourescing under 365nm UV light
2. we all love Cortinarius archeri / the Emperor Webcaps that are having a great season this year 💜
3. A potentially undescribed species in Cortinarius section Austrocyanites
4. The rarely recorded Inocybe violaceocaulis
5. Lots of Geastrum / Earthstars around on the peninsula - especially under Acacia melanoxylon / Blackwoods
6-7. A likely undescribed species in Boletaceae - almost kaleidoscopic colours on the flesh after being cross-sectioned
8. Entoloma rodwayi
9. Entoloma viridomarginatum
10. Clavulinopsis corallinorosacea
11. Phellodon niger (species complex)
12. A handful of Amanita xanthocephala / Vermillion Amanita, Fistulinella mollis / Marshmallow Boletes and a lil' Cruentomycena viscidocruenta / Ruby Bonnet
13. A species in Amanita section Roanokenses
14. Chlorociboria sp.
15. gloopy Protostropharia sp. on wombat 💩
16. "baby" Amanita ochrophylla that amongst a sizeable fruiting of massive mushrooms just off the track in the forest
17. "Boletus" barragensis
18. Mycena vinacea (they smell like fresh radish)
19. Phaeoclavulina sp. (super bitter taste)
20. One of the mealy species in Amanita section Roanokenses

on Bunurong country, 20-21/06/26

A few fun finds from a very quick trip to SEQ this week. There has been recent good rain and but June is an atypical time for mushrooms up there so I was surprised by the amount popping up in a bunch of different local reserves dominated by dry subtropical Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Melaleuca dominated forests.

1. A poor fuzzy spider that is being consumed by a parasitic fungus in Cordycipitaceae. Looks kinda cute though? 🧸
2. Panus sp.
3-4. Zelleromyces sp. - these are basically secotioid/truffle-like Lactarius
5. A secotioid/truffle-like Descolea sp. - first time that I've seen these!
6. Ramaria sp.
7. A strange mystery species in Omphalotaceae. This species is really common on the east coast and looks completely different when wet - pale and greasy. As it dries, it becomes a vivid blue colour. It can still be identified when fresh due the subtle but noticeable blue margins on the gills. It's an odd one.
8. A likely undescribed Cantharellus in subgenus Cantharellus
9. Mycocalia - strange gelatinous Birds Nest Fungi that can be found on the rotting fronds and inflorescences of piccabeen palms
10. Phallus multicolor

on Quandamooka and Yuggera country, 06/26