Bungendore - Spooks Hill - Autumn - May 3

A brilliant, sunny Autumn day after three days of cold, steady rain. The ground is damp and the plants have had another good drink. The Native Australian Raspberry Rubus parvifolus still hasn't fruited.

Mushrooms have popped up all over the forest floor. There were several clusters of Saffron Milkcap Lactarius deliciosus. I picked one to take home and taste. The small white/grey mushrooms were scattered across the forest floor, especially where there was deep litter. I'm hoping the iNaturalist community might help with identification.

I also noticed a cluster of what I think are Onion Earthballs Scleroderma cepa underneath an oak tree on the edge of the pine forest.

There were many clumps of rushes popping up on the norther-eastern edge of the pine forest. One of these clumps had flowers and I was able to identify them as Wattle Mat-rush Lomandra filiformis. It will be nice to see them mass flowering in the next couple of weeks.

I also noticed a thistle plant on the eastern edge of the forest that looked more delicate than the ubiquitous Scotch Thistle found in paddocks throughout the region. The whole plant, including the flowers, were more delicate and the growing habit was more rambling than upright. I suspected it might be the Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare. This was confirmed by a fellow naturalist, thank you 'reiner.'

Posted on May 4, 2020 10:24 AM by froggie79