You will always find something interesting to photograph in a forest doesn't matter if it is a stream, waterfall or the smallest mushrooms and insects.  The big problem is trying to find out afterwards what it was that you photographed.  My The Wildlife of Southern Africa book normally has most of the answers... well, like I … Continue reading Little upside down bracket umbrellas →

I found this yellow fungus growing on a burned log in the Tugela Gorge in the Drakensberg.  I have search all over and is struggling a bit to find out what it is.  The closest I have been able to track down is Tremella mesenterica (common names include the yellow brain, the golden jelly fungus, the yellow … Continue reading Yellow bracket fungus →

I was at a Christmas party over the weekend and found these Lacquered Bracket fungi growing on tree stumps lying in the garden at the venue.  They grow up to 500 mm in diameter and is found either singly or in groups.They are corky in texture when young, but turn woody when they mature and is … Continue reading Orange Lacquered Bracket →

The other day after some rain a lone Ink Cap Mushroom popped up in the backyard. It's named such because the blackened mushrooms were boiled in water with cloves to produce ink in the early days. The mushroom has a white skin with tan coloring across its shaggy looking outer flesh. Just after it appears, … Continue reading Ink Cap Mushroom →

I found these petite little mushrooms in my back yard the other day and I realised. Fairies and pixies also need umbrellas to hide under when it rains.

I stumbled on this bracket fungus growing on a tree stump in Somerset East. Back home I found the following information about it. Edible bracket fungus is normally found on dead hardwood trees in summer and autumn. It normally grows up to 350 millimeters wide and 5 millimeters thick either singly or in clusters. The … Continue reading Edible Bracket →

I found these orange-brown wild mushrooms while walking the other morning and has no idea what they are. I checked my Wildlife of Southern Africa book and it wasn't in there. I also checked the internet but the answer seems to be eluding me. Anybody know? Joan probably will.

The Gem-studded Puff-ball (Lycoperdon perlatum) grows up to 50 millimeters high and can be found either in clusters or on its own. The mushroom is covered in tiny wards leaving depressions and are normally found in late summer to autumn among fallen leaves of broadleaved trees.