General
The fly agaric (or Amanita muscaria if you're annoying like me) is a species of fungi that grows prominently throughout the ACT. It isn't edible, however its toxicity can be weakened by preparing it correctly. There are a wide range of potential side effects from consumption, including nausea, audiovisual distortions, and in more serious cases of poisoning it has been known to cause delirium and even seizures. They also have a psychoactive use, and there are reported effects including both macropsia (objects around you appear larger than usual) and micropsia (objects around you appear smaller than usual). I will not be sharing any of the purported methods of preparing the fly agaric because I do not want to potentially get something wrong and have someone end up hurt - just avoid it. There's plenty of other good mushrooms out there :)
Appearance
The fly agaric features a white stem, on which it has an annulus (the little skirt looking thing). The cap is a bright red, a colour which fades over time, and on it white chunks can be found. These chunks are fragments of what once covered the mushroom, the universal veil (this can be seen in the gallery at the bottom of this page). These bumps can be removed though, so be careful when identifying it!! Both the gills and spore print of the fly agaric are white, and they have no notable smell. Their gills are typically free, meaning they join to the cap instead of the stem. This can vary a bit though, and they can also attach in adnexed and adnate styles!
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The shaggy ink cap (also referred to as the lawyer's wig, shaggy mane, or Coprinus comatus) is a pretty distinct looking mushroom that is also edible! However you should be careful, since it actually digests its own cap, making it inky and not fit for consumption. So basically if you're planning on eating it, make sure you're sure you've got this species (use a source other than this website!) and make sure you eat it while it's *young*. Also, there are species of ink caps that can be poisonous (causing things like nausea) if you drink alcohol within a three day range before and after eating them. Be mindful *where* you pick these mushrooms as well, since they're good at picking up heavy metals from the soil around them. So don't pick shaggy ink cap mushrooms that are growing right next to a road or smth, just to be safe. As far as I'm aware, the autodigestion of their cap helps them release their spores, since it exposes their gills as the edges curl up from digestion.
Appearance
Shaggy ink caps (and actually just ink caps in general), as previously mentioned, digest their own cap as they age, causing its appearance to change dramatically over time. When young, they appear white, cylindrical, and shaggy with discolouration on the top of the cap. The cap is digested from the outside in, and as it digests it becomes darker and eventually reaches a liquid state (similar to ink, I wonder why they're called ink caps...). You can see exactly what I mean in this video. Also as it matures, the partial veil (a thin membrane that covers the gills when it's young) breaks off the cap, giving it a little ring on its stem.
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The death cap (or Amanita phalloides) is a deadly poisonous mushroom that made its way to Australia via the roots of imported oak trees. These are *very* poisonous - just half of this mushroom's cap is approximately enough to kill an adult human, and just to make things a little worse, their poison is thermostable. This means they resist changes in temperature causing them to retain their toxicity even when cooked, frozen, or dried out. It's actually considered to be one of the world's most toxic mushrooms, and is responsible for the majority of deadly mushroom poisonings globally. The fact that symptoms have a 6 - 12 hour delay after consumption paired with the fact that they apparently taste really good (according to people who have fortunately survived eating one) is kinda one of the big reasons why there are so many cases of poisoning. Just be super careful if you're foraging for mushrooms because these things are kinda insane.
Appearance
The death cap unfortunately isn't as iconic in appearance as some other mushrooms (like the fly agaric) - the cap can be yellow-green, olive green, a pale green, bronze, or even white. This colour fades towards the edge of the cap, and things like rain can also cause the colour of the cap to fade a little. In wet conditions the cap becomes sticky and can easily be peeled (which is seen by some as a feature of edible fungi - don't assume a fungi is edible because of something like this). They have an annulus (skirt that sits on the stem) and can sometimes have chunks on their cap similar to the fly agaric, although these chunks are frequently naturally removed from the cap. Don't assume a mushroom isn't a death cap just because it has no chunks on the cap!! Their smell ranges from a faint sweetness to an overpowering sickly sweet scent. And in case you have some sulfuric acid lying around, their gills stain a light lilac/pink when reacting with H₂SO₄.
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The yellow-stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus or A. xanthoderma) is a poisonous mushroom to *most* people. It tends to grow around autumn, and feeds on dead organic matter. Eating the yellow-stainer can cause things like sweating, flushing, and severe stomach cramps. When cooked, a strong phenol scent becomes apparent which should hopefully help you realise that you nearly just fucked up. This smell is still discernible when uncooked, and tends to be strongest near the base of the stem. Additionally, meals this mushroom is cooked in will likely turn a yellow/orange colour.
Appearance
Young yellow-stainers can sometimes have a square-ish shape, and their cap flattens as they age. The cap is white, with brown-ish tint in the centre. The gills change colour as they age, going from a pale pink to a dark brown/purple. The yellow-stainer has an annulus (little skirt around the stem), and (unsurprisingly) stains bright yellow when scraping the flesh/cutting the stem. These damaged areas will transition to a brown colour over time.
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The spectacular rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius) is an inedible mushroom that typically grows in clusters by trees (logs, base of the trunk, sometimes stumps, etc). When I say it's inedible, I really mean that it tastes EXTREMELY bitter. There are mixed results when trying to remove this bitterness via boiling several times in an acid (like vinegar), sometimes it seems as though the bitterness is removed and other times it appears to be persistent. Overall probably not worth it to try and eat it. In the past it was believed to contain psilocybin, but this has since been proven to be a different species. This means that any mild hallucinogenic properties that have been reported regarding consumption of this mushroom are the result of other active chemicals in the mushroom. There is also a chance that there are no hallucinogenic properties, and that this is just the result of more false identification! Besides, if you remove the HORRIBLE taste, you're probably gonna remove any psychoactive chemicals too. Overall not very good for consumption!
Appearance
Younger specimens have a bright yellow-orange cap, that gradually changes to an orange/reddish brown as it ages. The surface of the cap is dry and scaly, and the flesh of the mushroom is yellow. They have a ring around the stem which tends to be covered with rusty orange spores. The gills change from a straw yellow to a rusty orange as the mushroom grows, and the gill attachment is adnate to sub-decurrent. It apparently turns green when cooked! Why are you cooking it!! It's not worth it!!!!
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The fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades) is a sweet-tasting edible mushroom that has been introduced to Australia. They grow in rings or arcs that increase in size as the mycelium under the soil grows. The mycelium grows outwards from a single point, which results in it forming an approximately circular shape with the centre being the starting point for growth. Mushrooms grow on the outermost edge of this ring, since that's where there is a higher abundance of resources, and this causes a fairy ring or an arc of mushrooms to form. Due to their sweet taste, they tend to be used in baked goods, like cookies. They can be and are used for more savoury dishes as well, such as soups and stews. The stem is typically not included since apparently it's much less appetising - just something to keep in mind when cooking it (as long as you're confident that you can accurately identify this species, that is).
Resistance
The fairy ring champignon contains a certain type of sugar, trehalose (which for those curious is two glucose molecules joined by a 1-1 alpha bond), that allows it survive extreme cases of dehydration. The reason this happens is because trehalose acts as a sort of defence against dehydration, keeping the membranes of cells in a similar shape to how they were whilst hydrated. This means that when you add water back to a dehydrated fairy ring champignon, the cells completely revive and digest the trehalose. They can even produce new spores after rehydration! This sugar also explains the distinct sweet taste of the mushroom, since trehalose is said to be only around half as sweet as table sugar, which is still pretty sweet for a mushroom.
Folklore
The fairy rings formed by this species (and several similar species, some of which are POISONOUS so don't go trying to ID these by just looking for rings) are present throughout a wide variety of European folklore, typically with some sort of supernatural cause. In west-Austrian folklore the existence of fairy rings was attributed to the tails of dragons, and once a dragon had created one then that area would grow nothing but mushrooms for seven years (sounds fine to me, mushrooms are fun(gi)). In some areas of France the folklore stated that fairy rings have guards in the form of giant toads who would curse anyone who stepped inside. The whole "fairy" part of the "fairy ring" name seems to originate from Britain and Ireland, where folklore said that they were caused by the dancing of fairies in a ring. In the 1960's another idea emerged that they weren't caused by dancing, but rather by the presence of an underground fairy village (how do they leave their underground village to get to the surface without any holes being made? magic probably, idk). Generally most folklore warns against stepping inside a fairy ring because of the risk of being cursed by the fairies that created the ring, and overall suggests you should avoid these rings. I suggest you don't avoid these rings because they're very cool to look at and sit in :)
Appearance
The fairy ring champignon has a cap with a diameter of anywhere from 1-5 cm, with the stem growing to around 2-6 cm in height. The margin of the cap changes its shape over time, going from initially inrolled (curved down and towards the stem) to uplifted (curved upwards). In some cases, the margin will display faint lines. Throughout its lifespan, it tends to retain a bump in the middle of the cap (referred to as an umbo). Its cap is typically a tan or buff colour, and occasionally will display variations of lighter and darker shades of these colours forming simple patterns. Its gills can be anywhere from adnexed to nearly free from the stem entirely, and if you happen to know what cyanide smells like, they have a similar odour, and produce a white spore print.
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The Redlead Roundhead (aka Leratiomyces ceres) is a species of fungus that tends to grow on wood chips, and is often incorrectly referred to as Stropharia aurantiaca. It is, unfortunately, a toxic species, and grows either in autumn or in mild winters and summers. This species has been shown to display cytotoxic behaviour, which is to say that it is toxic to cells and prevents them from replicating. Cytotoxic things are typically used to treat cancer since stopping cancer from growing is generally a good thing. It was found to be selectively cytotoxic against colon cancer, however it didn't really show any significant behaviour against other cancer cells.
Appearance
The Redlead Roundhead grows to around 3-6 cm tall, with its stem being around 1 cm wide. It has a nice dark brown/purple spore print, and a bright red/orange cap which gets a bit sticky when wet. Young mushrooms have remnants of the partial veil (a thin membrane that covers the gills while the mushroom grows) present on their cap, which you can see in the images in the gallery. The stem of the mushroom is white with orange stains forming around the base as it ages. Sometimes there's a ring present on the stem, but not always since it's pretty flimsy. The stem is smooth above the area where the ring is/was, and beneath that area the stem is fluffy (this fluffiness can be removed via rain). The gills begin as white or pale gray, and transition to a dark purple/brown/grey with age while maintaining whitish edges.
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Psilocybe subaeruginosa is a fungi species discovered and first described in 1927 that is known to grow both in Australia and in New Zealand. The word "subaeruginosa" comes from the latin "aeruginosa", which is used to describe copper rust (a blue-green sort of colour). The mushrooms contain comparatively large quantities of psilocybin when compared to other common psychedelic species - one study showed the presence of psilocybin could be as high as 1.93% when dried. For comparison, the most popular species of magic mushroom (Psilocybe cubensis) has 1.3% psilocybin content when dried. It tends to grow from around March until August, and can be found growing in animal dung, wood chips, fallen trees, and rich soil. It's also known to grow in Eucalyptus forests :)
Appearance
The appearance of this species can vary a little bit, with younger specimens having conical shaped caps and older ones being much more broad. Some caps will also feature an umbo (a little bump in the centre of the cap). The cap is described as yellow-brown to orange-brown. It stains a greenish-blue colour either after being damaged or simply with age, and has a purple-brown spore deposit. The gills go from a smoky brown colour when young to a violet-brown when older, and the stipe tends to be faintly marked with vertical lines. It both smells and tastes farinaceous, which is described as similar to freshly ground flour (although others will describe the smell differently). Sometimes the gills will be covered in a web-like veil, although this tends to be washed away over time.
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The saffron milk cap (aka the red pine mushroom, or Lactarius deliciosus) is a species of fungus that, whilst being native to Europe, has been spread artificially to other regions of the world due to their symbiotic relationship with pine trees. Pine trees with the saffron milk cap are shipped to other countries accidentally, and then the species grows and spreads once planted (alongside the slippery jack). They tend to grow under conifers that are planted on acidic soils, and tend to grow during autumn after rain. Despite its scientific name ending in "deliciosus", it actually can taste kinda bitter. Despite this, it's not so bitter that it's considered inedible (unlike the spectacular rustgill).
Appearance
The saffron milk cap has a convex, orange cap (sometimes can be a bit grey) that can grow up to 14 cm across (but can be on the smaller side at ~5 cm). There are often darker orange rings around the outside, and the cap becomes sticky when wet. Its gills are decurrent (if you google "decurrent gills" you'll get a lot of images illustrating what this means), orange, and fairly crowded. Its stem is hollow, and grows from 3 to 8 cm in height with a thickness of 1 to 2 cm. The flesh of the mushroom stains a deep green when handled, and if fresh it releases an orange-red milky substance when damaged (hence why it's a milk cap mushroom). As always, make sure to read up on potentially similar looking species before grabbing some to eat :)
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The slippery jack (aka Suillus luteus or sticky bun) is an edible mushroom that grows in pine plantations in the ACT (alongside the safrron milk cap). They have been seen to grow in fairy rings, although this is not always the case. The cap is slimy, and remains glossy and smooth even when dry - the outer later of skin on the cap should be removed before cooking, because it's known to cause indigestion. It's also known to cause an allergic reaction in some people, so be careful! It grows during most seasons except winter (unless you visit the Cotopaxi National Park in Ecuador, where they not only grow year-round but grow a LOT - estimated up to 6000 mushrooms per hectare per year). The slippery jack contains chemicals that let it extract iron from its environment in conditions where they might be low on nutrients. They reproduce quite a lot compared to other species, allowing for relatively quick evolution of traits. This can be seen in in soil that contains toxic levels of heavy metals, wherein the slippery jack can evolve a resistance to them and continue to proliferate. This also allows them to protect certain species of pine tree with which they have a symbiotic relationship, by preventing the build-up of certain heavy metals in said tree. Their mycelium produces tiny, microscopic crystals of oxalic acid on its surface, which is thought to be done in order to protect it from the grazing of small bugs in the soil.
Appearance
The cap of the slippery jack is typically a brown-ish colour, and tends to grow to around 7 cm in diameter (although it can, on rare occasions, reach sizes of up to 20 cm!!). They have a porous underside instead of gills, which attaches to the stem in a fashion ranging from adnate to slightly decurrent (there's no easy way to explain these words, but there's plenty of cool diagrams on the internet that I'd recommend you search for!). These pores begin yellow, however over time they will grow darker (still yellow, just a darker yellow). The stem typically ranges anywhere from 5 - 10 cm in height, and around 3 cm wide. The stem is white/pale yellow, and has a ring around it once it has matured a little. This ring has a gelatinous texture in humid conditions, and the flesh of the fungus is soft and doesn't discolour when damaged. It produces a clay/ochre coloured spore print, which is funky and perhaps a little silly.
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The anemone stinkhorn (aka Aseroe rurbra, the sea anemone fungus or the starfish fungus) is a common type of fungus that can be easily noticed by its strong terrible smell (like rotting meat and faeces and stuff), alongside its weird looking shape. Its method of spore dispersion is done by attracting flies with their terrible smell. These flies land on the mushroom, which is covered in a brownish slime that contains spores, and then fly away with this slime attached to them. Pretty unique and funky method of spore dispersal tbh. It was actually the first fungi species native to Australia to be formally defined! It's name comes from the Ancient Greek words for 'disgust' and 'juice', alongside the Latin for 'red'.
Appearance
This one looks really fucking weird I'm not gonna lie - it bursts out of a tiny egg-like structure around 3 cm in diameter, and grows to a height of anywhere up to 10 cm. The stalk is white, and on top of it is a weird gross looking reddish star-like thing with 6 - 10 arms. Each arm is around 4 cm long, and is split into two segments. The brown slime with all the spores in it that I mentioned earlier is seen on the very top of the fungus, where all the arms are seen radiating out from. All in all a very silly looking beast. 10/10
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The pixie's parasol (aka Mycena interrupta) is a very cool looking species of small mushroom. It has a Gondwanan distribution pattern, which means it is found in places that over 140 million years ago would have been a part of the same supercontinent known as Gondwana. It tends to grow on dead wood, and produces enzymes that work to break down the log it's growing on in order to create soil. It belongs to a genus (group of species) that contains some bioluminescent fungi, but unfortunately isn't bioluminescent itself. I wouldn't recommend eating it, as the genus it belongs to is said to contain unidentified toxins. It's fun to look at though :)
Appearance
The pixie's parasol has quite a distinct and pretty appearance, with its cap being a bright cyan/blue. The stem is more of a white colour, but from the looks of it it can sometimes be a little bit blue as well. The cap ranges from a size of around 1 - 2 cm, and the stem length also happens to fall within that same range. The base of the stem is always going to be attached to some form of dead wood, and will feature a small white ring at the junction between stem and wood. The surface of the cap is shiny and gelatinous, however it seems to dent a little in the centre as it ages. It produces a white spore print (RIP. would've been cool if it was like. bright blue or something. oh well, you just gotta take what you can get). The gills are adnate to free (google those words, they're useful), and are white with blue being seen along the outer edges.
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The snow fungus (aka snow ear, silver ear fungus, white jelly mushroom, white cloud ears and Tremella fuciformis) is a parasitic fungus that typically forms a relationship with certain species of saprophytic (feeds off of dead matter) fungus such as Annulohypoxylon archeri. It's cultivated widely throughout China and other Asian nations, and is used in several sweet meals due to its lack of flavour accompanied by its jelly-like texture. Honestly sounds like a pretty fun thing to eat, I'm not gonna lie. It's used in meals like types of dessert soups, where it's accompanied by other ingredients like jujubes, longans, and other nice little things. The spores of this fungus are produced all along the surface of the mushroom, because it's WEIRD (I'm joking I love this fungus). It's also used in a bunch of cosmetic products because of its reported ability to increase moisture retention in the skin, increase levels of the chemical superoxide dismutase which acts as a really strong antioxidant, and prevent degradation of micro-blood vessels in the skin. Antioxidants help protect the skin from damage by UV or pollution, so the presence of that strong antioxidant is pretty cool :)
Appearance
The fruiting body is jelly-like, white, and a little transparent. They look kinda wavy and gelatinous, and are overall just kind of silly. They greow up to 7.5 centimetres in diameter, and there's not really much more to say about their appearance to be honest!
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The stalked earthstar (aka Geastrum tenuipes) is a sorta weird looking fungus that easily blends into its environment thanks to its colour. There's not a whole lot of info on this species in particular, since up until the very recent year of 2015 we thought it was a different species Gaestrum pectinatum, aka the beaked earthstar (that's 8 years ago as of writing this. like, surely there'd be a bit more info since then. but nope). In fact, the common name I use for this article is just a name I saw used on one single website because there didn't seem to be any others. Sort of annoying that there's like no info on this species but I'll live. maybe
Appearance
The stalked earthstar is very similar in appearance to the beaked earthstar, and at least I've got lots of photos of that species to look at as reference. geez. They have a grey-ish blue bulb at their top which houses their spores, and is typically 1 - 3 cm across. This spore sac is attached to the base via a short stem that is typically half a centimetre tall and around a centimetre wide (these dimensions can vary a little though). The base is split into 6 - 10 rays (and what i mean by this will be more apparent if you take a look at some of the images), with each of the rays being around 2 cm long. The base is a white-ish brown colour. They also have a small conical structure at the top of their spore sac, which is why the similar species (the beaked earthstar) is named what it is.
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Behaviour
The grey fantail is a fairly common bird throughout ACT that is known to build multiple nests before laying eggs. Only one of these nests is actually used, and these "dummy nests" are thought to be used in order to confuse predators and keep their eggs safe. Some male grey fantails intrude on other territories, seeking extra-pair copulation. This is behaviour that is only seen in a fairly small number of male birds though, and most grey fantails remain in monogamous pairings for a full season. They are a migratory species, with some subspecies travelling from Tasmania to Australia for winter. Similarly to the willie wagtail, the grey fantail is an insectivore. This makes a fair bit of sense, given that both species are fairly closely related.
Appearance
Grey fantails are pretty small, they only seem to be ~15cm long and even then half their body length is taken up by their huge tail. Adults have dark-grey/black backs, which extends to their tail and wings. White features can be seen around their chin and around their eyes (they look like they have little eyebrows). Their stomachs are a pale white-ish yellow, and most of this description isn't too important because there are PHOTOS of these things that I've included in the gallery. As with any other species I'm still gonna describe it though lmao.
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Whilst there are 3 subspecies of willie wagtail, the one we have in the ACT is the most common (known as R. leucophrys leucophrys). They tend to live basically anywhere *other* than dense forested areas, and looking at Australia I'm sure you can see why they love it here. The willie wagtail is insectivorous, similar to the grey fantail. Both of these two species are actually quite closely related, so this explains not just their similar eating habits but also their similar appearance.
Behaviour
Willie wagtails, as their name suggests, tend to wag their tails. The actual reason for this isn't something we know, but we can make a bunch of guesses (which people love doing, and have done). Some people think that it helps flush out insects that might be hidden, and some think it could be a more social behaviour. They're pretty aggressively territorial, but to a fairly stupid level resulting in them harassing animals like cats or dogs that get too close to their territory. They tend to make a rapid alarm noise to attempt to both signal that there's a danger in the area, and as an attempt to deter these dangers. You can listen to this noise on youtube here. Another thing they do to defend/declare their territory (because they just love defending their damn territory) is fly in loops and dive (not as an attack or anything, just a dive) over and over again whilst singing and making noise. Despite all of this territoriality, they're not *actually* dangerous or anything. So don't be weary of them or anything, they're just too defensive for their own good.
Appearance
Willie wagtails are black and white birds, featuring a black back and head along with a white chest and stomach. They also have thin little white eyebrows that make them look angry all the time, and is a pretty defining feature you can use to identify it. They're fairly small, at ~20cm in length, and both male and female willie wagtails are basically identical in visual appearance. Juveniles tend to have feathers that are more brown than dark black, and also seem to have more variation in feather colour in comparison with their adult counterparts. I'll add an image of both a juvenile and an adult in the gallery so that you can see this difference for yourself.
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The eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is found throughout eastern regions of Australia. They form open-membership groups that vary in size depending on what they're doing - they tend to graze in smaller groups whilst forming larger ones when resting. Whilst more dominant kangaroos do gain access to better food sources and shaded areas due to their dominance hierarchy, the eastern grey kangaroo isn't very territorial. Female kangaroos are capable of freezing the development of an embryo (known as 'embryonic diapause') until the previous joey can leave the pouch. They are mainly crepuscular, meaning they're primarily active during dawn and dusk.
Appearance
Eastern grey kangaroos stand at roughly 1.5m tall, with larger males reaching heights of around 2m. Female kangaroos are typically less heavy than their male counterparts by around 20kg. They have brownish-grey fur, and have relatively large eyes when comparing them to other species of kangaroo such as the red kangaroo (which is not present in the ACT).
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The eastern rosella is a native Australian species, and currently has three distinct subspecies, with the P. e. eximius being the particular one found throughout the ACT. They typically breed in spring, and if necessary they do so in summer as well, and can lay anywhere from 2 to 9 eggs. Additionally, their diet mainly revolves around various fruits, seeds, and insects. The eastern rosella doesn't really have any weird or abnormal behaviours, and I'm writing this sentence both as an apology for a lack of conventionally interesting information (whilst this information is still interesting to me), and as a way to make this paragraph feel less empty.
Appearance
Eastern rosellas are around 30cm long, with a wide range of coloured feathers. Their heads and chest are red, with their stomach displaying yellow-green feathers. Both their beaks and their cheeks are white, and the feathers on their backs are an on-and-off combination of black and yellow-green. On top of all of this, their wings feature a prominent blue and their tail is a deep green.
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Whilst not all of the seven subspecies of crimson rosella are actually crimson, the one we have in the ACT, P. e. elegans, is. Crimson rosellas tend to eat fruits, seeds, and various unfortunate little bugs (eg; aphids, moths). They nest in hollows inside of trees, and only one pair of crimson rosellas will live in a tree at any given point in time. In order to prevent other rosellas from using the same tree, they make a bunch of noise and chatter at any birds that approach any trees within a small distance around their nest. Unfortunately they're a little bit silly, and female crimson rosellas often destroy the eggs of other pairs during breeding season in order to try and get them to abandon their nest.
Appearance
Crimson rosellas have a very distinct appearance, with most of their body being a bright red. They have blue chins and tails, with blue also being displayed in their wings alongside black. Their backs have black and red feathers mixed together in a funky pattern you can observe in the gallery at the bottom of this page. They're around 36cm long, including their tail, and the only real noticeable difference between male and female crimson rosellas is that the males are ~15% larger. Juvenile crimson rosellas have green feathers covering most of their body, which slowly transition to their mature colours as they age. Also, and this isn't too relevant to the ACT, I'm going to include an image of a subspecies found in Adelaide because it's yellow?? A yellow *crimson* rosella. It looks really cool :)
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Ahhh I love these lil guys. The huge amount of farms in Australia paired with the fact that these birds love grains has allowed them spread across nearly the entire continent. They have this super cool evolutionary quirk that makes one of their flight feathers distinctly different from the others, and this causes it to emit whistling noises while taking off. A low whistle is heard when they raise their wings, and a high whistle is heard when their wings flap back down again. This trait evolved since it acts as a sort of built-in alarm system, so if a crested pigeon flies off because of a threat it immediately warns all nearby crested pigeons of the danger. On a completely different note, they're most likely to breed during summer/warm times of year, and do a silly little mating dance. I'll include an image of a mating display, but they essentially just bob around and fan out their feathers over and over again while making little hooting noises. Silly little guys!
Appearance
Crested pigeons have a pretty distinct appearance, since they have funny little mohawks. Whilst they're mostly pretty grey, they actually have some pretty colourful and shiny purple, green, blue and brown feathers. Juveniles are basically just dull versions of the adults, and don't have any colourful or shiny feathers like I just mentioned. Their babies are super adorable though so I'll forgive them (and you should too).
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Pea aphids are really fucking awesome tiny little bugs and they're also basically everywhere, so it's no surprise that they're in the ACT. Some other colloquial names for them are really cute, like the green dolphin, and they suck the sap out of various plants. Unfortunately this means a lot of people hate them, because as you may have guessed, sucking the sap out of plants isn't all that good for growing crops. They also tend to transmit disease to the plants they consume, which also tends to have an.. *undesirable* effect on growing crops. They're often super good at blending in so you might not notice them when simply walking around. Remember when looking for them that they're gonna be a little hidden (and tiny)! Try looking on the underside of leaves or smth!
Unique characteristics
Pea aphids display polyphenism and polymorphism!! What this means is that pea aphids can display multiple distinct traits (polymorphism), and that these some of these traits are caused by environmental factors (polyphenism), not genes. This is really cool because it leads to pea aphids displaying body colours that vary between green or red/pink, instead of just all looking the same. Body colour is hereditery, and green is much more common in the wild (so if you're looking for them, look for little green bugs!). They're also capable of reproducing both sexually and asexually: They reproduce asexually during summer, and breed sexually at the end of summer, wherein they create eggs that are resistant to the cold. So that's pretty cool!
Appearance
Pea aphids can vary pretty significantly in appearance due to the aforementioned polyphenism and polymorphism, but they seem to have a fairly consistent shape you can observe in the gallery at the bottom of this page. They tend to have dark joints/limbs and display similar colours to the image provided below. When adults they reach an adorable 4 millimetres long!!
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The red wattlebird is a bird distributed around southern and south-eastern regions of Australia. They tend to gather in large groups that can reach up to several hundred birds during winter, and hop in order to move on the ground. They're quite territorial against other birds, flying at and snapping the tails of any that get too close to their nest or food source. They're also known to group together and chase magpies, currawongs, butcherbirds, and several other larger bird species. Nesting tends to occur between July and December, with 2 - 3 eggs typically being laid. The red wattlebird is a nectar-feeder, typically foraging in trees. They also eat small amounts of insects, berries and various other fruits.
Call
Male red wattlebirds produce a cackling noise in a variety of situations such as whilst foraging alone, when around other birds, or while defending and declaring territory. The female red wattlebird produces a whistling call instead, which consists of around 5 consecutive notes which occasionally ascend in tone. A common noise the red wattlebird makes is a singular "chock", which is thought to be a contact call and travels over long distances. When mobbing other animals (typically intruders), the red wattlebird alternates between two alarm calls - one is a low pitched short note, and the other is a more harsh call that varies in frequency, being louder in lower frequencies.
Appearance
Red wattlebirds are around 35 centimetres long, and weigh in at around 110 grams. They're the second largest native Australian honeyeater (with the largest being a close relative, the yellow wattlebird). Their appearance is fairly unique, with their main distinguishing factor being the pink-red wattles that grow near their ears on each side of their head. I'll attach some images instead of describing their feather colour pattern since it's kinda unique. The point will be gotten across easier via image :P
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The pied currawong is a bird that is native to (and quite common throughout) eastern Australia. The pied currawong is omnivorous, and does most of its foraging in trees (this is different to a related species of bird, the Australian magpie, which typically forages for food on the ground). They are known to exhibit a behaviour known as anting, wherein they rub ants and other insects all over their body. This is done in order to coat their bodies in chemicals that can act as insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, etcetera. Pied currawongs have been observed playing games when in flocks, one of which involves one of them sitting at the top of a tall tree or pole while the others attempt to dislodge them by swooping and diving at it. They eat a wide variety of foods, ranging from fruits and berries to birds such as the crested pigeon. There are six recognised subspecies of the pied currawong, with the one present in the ACT having comparatively larger wings, longer tails, and shorter bills.
Call
The term "currawong" is believed to be of indigenous origin, and is quite similar to the noise made by the bird, with its loud call being transcribed as a sort of "Kadow-Kadang" or "Curra-Wong" noise. They also make high-pitched whistles that some describe as sounding like "Wheeo". I'd recommend watching/listening to recordings of currawong calls, since transcriptions don't really do them justice (try a video like this). They're fairly well known for their call, with some people referring to them as the réveilleur, meaning "alarm clock" (kinda rude if you ask me).
Appearance
Pied currawongs are black birds, with white feathers shown in their wings and parts of their tail. Their eyes are a distinct yellow, and they have an average wingspan of ... 69 cm ... The juveniles are a little more grey, as is pretty standard with juvenile bird species. They're just silly little guys after all. Currawongs aren't too visually complex, which is nice for moments like this where I have to try and describe their appearance.
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The noisy miner (aka Manorina melancephala) is a bird that is endemic to eastern regions of Australia. They live in a wide range of environments, and are thriving in urban regions (lucky them!). They're a very social species, and are rarely seen in small groups. They tend to forage and move in a group that can contain up to several hundred other birds. While these hundreds of birds don't spend *all* their time together, flocks can amass up to 40 birds all in the one place when mobbing predators. In these flocks, female birds only tend to be present in small numbers (typically just one), and are fairly aggressive towards one another. This behaviour causes some female birds to be driven out of their colony, typically younger ones :( They're described as one of the most aggressive honeyeater species, both to other bird species and to their own species. Adult males behin attack juveniles of just 11 weeks old, with these 'adult males' sometimes being the same birds that raised them. These attacks on juveniles tend to be focussed on a patch of yellow behind their eye. When attacking an intruder, their goal isn't always just to chase them out of their territory, but instead to kill them. Also they eat fruits, nectar, various insects, abd some small reptiles such as frogs and skinks. Overall very toxic species, 0/10. smh.
Appearance
The noisy miner has a yellow patch behind its eye, and features a black region of feathers that wraps around their head in a band. Most of its body is grey, however a yellowish-green patch of feathers can be seen on their wings. They also have a cute orange-yellow beak, and a spotted(ish) pattern on their chest. As with most bird species, juveniles tend to be skrunklier versions of the mature birds.
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The lilly pilly beetle (aka Paropsides calypso) is a very adorable tiny beetle that people HATE because of the fact that it's just a hungry little guy. The only bad thing this guy ever did is have a little snack on some leaves of a lilly pilly hedge and human beings will NOT let this slide. There's barely any information online regarding them except for like. how to kill them. so I'm just gonna say that they're 100% innocent and just want a little munch. Love these little fellas. One of the best beetles out there.
Appearance
They are GREEB and SMALL. You can identify them by observing how they are full of INNOCENCE and JOYOUS WHIMSY. That is all and I will leave the rest of the visual description to the amazing images I will provide of this stunning critter.
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The gang-gang cockatoo (aka Callocephalon fimbriatum) is a species of parrot endemic to a small region of south-eastern Australia. Due to destruction of their living and feeding habitats across south-eastern Australia, they're now listed as a vulnerable species in New South Wales. Just over the past 21 years the gang-gang cockatoo population was seen to have decreased by around 69% (haha, but still sad). While it's listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee has assessed the species as eligible to be classified as endangered (for context, the species rankings in order are: Least Concern, Conservation Dependent, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the wild, and finally Extinct). Make of this what you will, but in my opinion you should consider them to be an endangered species.
Habitat and behaviour
The gang-gang cockatoo, as mentioned earlier, lives throughout a small region of south-eastern Australia. They prefer mountainous forests and woodlands, and tend to migrate to places like Canberra during winter. In order to breed they migrate back to the aforementioned forested environments. They're described as being quiet compared to other species of cockatoo, and feed on the seeds of eucalypts, hawthorns, and wattle species. While during breeding season (Oct - Jan) they forage for food in pairs or small groups, outside of breeding season they can forage in flocks that can reach sizes of up to 60 birds!
Appearance
Gang-gang cockatoos have a very distinct appearance, and aren't very similar visually to any other bird species. Their feathers are dark grey, with the head of the male birds being a bright red. The edges of their dark grey feathers are a light grey, with the feathers present on their stomach area being slightly different with light pink/yellow edges seen on their dark grey feathers.
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The plague soldier beetle (aka the banana bug, the green soldier beetle, or Chauliognathus lugubris) is a type of beetle that feeds off of nectar from flowering trees. They can occasionally reach insane numbers, causing them to break some twigs due to their collective mass. I'll attach some images of how many there can be sometimes, which should hopefully shed light on how silly they are. They tend to not be as active during winter, but can be found in great numbers in any other season. While they do weigh down and break some plants with their mass as a group, they're mostly harmless given the fact that they don't actually have any intention of eating the plants themselves. Apparently in one infestation of plague soldier beetles, it was determined that approximately 92% of the insects present were actively reproducing. Seems a little excessive in my opinion, but go off I guess. Also, they're completely harmless to humans as far as I'm aware :)
Appearance
The plague soldier beetle has black wings and a black head, but features a contrasting bright yellow stomach as well as a yellow band around the neck area. They're around 2 cm in length, and they're kinda just little friends really. Not really much more to say - love these little guys.
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The European rabbit (aka bunny, bnuuy, bunby, or Oryctolagus cuniculus) are a very cute species of rabbit that has been introduced to Australia a fair while ago. There were only 24 of them that were brought to Australia back in 1859, and now 164 years later there are around 200 million. They breed year-round in Australia because of how mild our winters are, and there have been several attempts to stop them spreading across Australia in the past. In the early 1900s there was a giant fence built to try and stop the rabbits from spreading westward, but people apparently forgot that rabbits can jump high and also burrow, so the fence did literally nothing at all. They tend to stay quite close to their burrows, typically remaining within 25 metres of it. However, if forced to move due to significant environmental change, they can stray up to 500 metres from their burrow. There's a social hierarchy among rabbits wherein male rabbits with more sexual partners will be more highly regarded, with the rabbits near the bottom of the hierarchy tending to form monogamous relationships. They're also the only species that can be killed by the disease called myxomatosis, which evidently hasn't been an effective population control measure given the fact that they're still everywhere. I love rabbits. so silly coded :3
Appearance
An adult European rabbit can measure up to 40 centimetres, and weigh up to 2 kilograms which is kind of adorable. Their ears tend to be around 7 cm long (as opposed to the brown hare whose ears are frequently in excess of 10 metres). While their fur is typically a greyish-brown, it can vary quite a bit. In rare cases they can have black fur, which looks quite nice and I will attach an image of one of them :) I think pictures would be a more effective explanation of how they look, so I will attach a bunch of bunny photos :) this is definitely not an excuse to just attach a lot of bunny photos :)
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The Australian magpie (aka Gymnorhina tibicen) is a very common species, with subspecies present throughout almost the entireity of Australia. During spring and sometimes autumn, some breeding magpies can become aggressive and swoop those who come too close. There is apparently evidence to suggest that magpies are capable of recognising people and subsequently being less likely to swoop them if they have a preestablished friendship. There are nine separate recognised subspecies of the Australian magpie, each of which have ranges they tend to inhabit. There are overlaps in these ranges, and in these overlapping regions the magpies tend to share some traits in common with both of the overlapping subspecies. For example if you look at the map in the gallery of this page, you can see an overlap between the longirostris subspecies and the dorsalis subspecies in the west. Australian magpies in this overlapping region may not cleanly fit into either the longirostris subspecies or the dorsalis subspecies, and instead might have traits in common with both subspecies. These transitional areas are a fairly helpful reminder that natural variations in species aren't as rigid as the structures we've imposed on them may make them out to be. I think it's pretty cool :3 The ACT is not home to just one subspecies of Australian magpie, as it sits on one of those transitional areas (I've added a second version of the subspecies distribution map to the gallery, but this one is marked with a small circle in south-eastern Australia marking out the ACT).
Behaviour
The Australian magpie is mainly diurnal, however they may occasionally continue to make calls into the night. They often end up dying from road accidents (can you blame them? they've got wings, how're they supposed to drive a car) or from eating poisoned rats, mice, or rabbits. They're also the only species in the Artimidae family that moves around on the ground primarily via walking instead of hopping, so that's good for them i guess :) They can also be super playful! Younger magpies have a bunch of different playful activities they tend to engage in, such as: picking up or tugging at things like sticks or rocks and handing them to other birds, play fighting, and an interesting sounding game wherein they will try and latch onto the tail feathers of the other player, who is flying away with a leaf or feather in their beak. They also sometimes engage in playful activities like these with other species like the Australian pipit and the blue-faced honeyeater, both of which can be found throughout the ACT! In 2022 there was a study that ended up showing off their capacity for problem solving and cooperation when Australian magpies helped one another remove tracking devices that had been placed on them for conservation reasons. AND they figured out how to eat cane toads (poisonous) safely by flipping them over and eating them from the stomach. This helps them avoid the poison that is secreted from above the shoulders of cane toads. Basically what I'm getting at is that they're really cool and awesome birds.
Appearance
Adult Australian magpies can range from around 35 to 45 centimetres in length, and have a 65 - 85 centimetre wingspan. Their head is black, with white feathers on their neck. Five of the nine official subspecies feature a prominent white back, such as the subspecies tyrannica. The remaining four subspecies have black backs. I'll attach photos of these two different types of subspecies - the ACT actually sits on an area that appears to be a mix between white backed subspecies and black backed subspecies, so that's nice and fun and confusing :) Their beaks are white with a black tip, and their eyes are a dull red. Juvenile Australian magpies are more grey, with more rough colouring in comparison to adults.
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Solanum linearifolium is a fucking annoyingly long name that describes a species of Kangaroo Apple. There's an unfortunately minimal amount of information on this *specific* species compared to others online, which kinda sucks. It seems to grow in a couple of places throughout the ACT, the majority of which appear to be nature reserves. Would've been nice if there was a colloquial name other than "Kangaroo Apple" though, since that word describes several different species and as such I can't really use it here in case I end up writing a page for another species that is also referred to as the Kangaroo Apple. This species is edible! Just be careful when identifying it, eating random berries is usually not a good idea.
Appearance
The shrub features long, thin leaves that can be anywhere between 15 to 40cm long. The flowers of this species are purple, with a diameter of up to ~5cm, and feature yellow-orange anthers at a length of ~3mm. The berries it produces can range from spherical to ovoid, and can be anywhere from an ochre-yellow to a dark red-purple. These ~2cm diameter fruits are full of tiny little seeds which wasn't really what I was expecting when I broke one open. I don't really know what I was expecting, to be fair. Each seed is ~3mm long. Tiny. So small.
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The common cassinia (also known as dogwood (which is dumb because that's already used to describe a completely different plant) or a dolly bush) is a type of shrub found throughout the ACT. Apparently the foliage can sometimes cause skin irritations, so I guess be careful? Maybe? It flowers from October - January, and fruits from December - March. There's honestly pretty minimal information regarding this species, probably because there's nothing too special about it. It just kinda sits there providing seeds for various birds and bugs to eat, and don't get me wrong that's *useful* and all, but it's not exactly unique.
Appearance
The common cassinia has fairly distinctive white flowers that grow in clumps (there'll definitely be pictures of this in the gallery), and the leaves are sessile (which is to say that they have no stalk, and just kinda join directly on to the base of the plant). The leaves are long and display mild twisting in their shape, and the shrub itself can grow to heights of ~1 - 2.6m. There are a couple of similar looking plants (such as tree everlasting), so if you're looking to identify this plant in particular, make sure you look into all the potential similar looking plants :)
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This is a cool one! Acacia implexa (also known by gidya, weetjellan, hickory wattle, or lightwood) is a tree found in eastern regions of Australia. It's pretty tough and is able to withstand both frost and droughts, although they are very prone to leaf gall (which is just the abnormal bumps and growths you sometimes see on leaves). The Ngunnawal people had a bunch of uses for this tree; the bark was used for rope, medicine or for fish poison, and the seeds were used to make flour. Also, the Dharawal people (who weren't in the region of the ACT, but I'm gonna write this because it's still interesting) would use the blooming of the tree as a sign that fires shouldn't be lit unless they're far away from bushland. It would also signify that heavy storms are likely, so camping near water bodies wasn't a good idea. I would rate this tree 10/10 personally.
Appearance
Their appearance is pretty funky - where other species' leaves typically have one distinct ridge down the centre of their leaves, these ones have 2 to 4 subtle lines that run, approximately equally spaced, down their leaves. The leaves are sickle-shaped, and if you're lucky they'll have a little bug living on them :) Their flowers bloom in little spheres with a diameter of ~6mm, and can have more than 50 tiny little flowers per sphere. Seed pods form after flowering, and tend to be ~25cm long and super curled up and dull brown. The tree itself grows to anywhere from 5m to 15m tall, and has a rough grey-brown trunk. Also apparently young acacia implexa trees can have purple leaves under certain conditions?? That's pretty cool in my opinion.
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The inland scribbly gum (white gum, Eucalyptus rossii) is endemic to NSW and the ACT, and grows best on sandy or rocky slopes with good drainage. Its bark is home to the eggs of a specific species of small moth, ogmograptis scribula. The larvae feed on the bark, mining through it as they grow. This is the cause of the distinct scribbly patterns found on the trunk of the inland scribbly gum. It's resistant to both frost and drought, and attracts birds in the summer with it's flowers. When in environments with higher levels of CO₂, the inland scribbly gum intakes water much more rapidly in comparison to other species such as the red stringybark which experiences no significant difference when in a more CO₂ rich environment. Both of these species experience an increase in total biomass in these high CO₂ conditions, with the inland scribbly gum's growth exceeding that of the red stringybark.
Appearance
Typically at a height of 15 - 20m, the inland scribbly gum is a eucalyptus tree with smooth yellowish-whiteish bark and ~10cm long curved leaves. Silly little scribbly patterns can be seen in the bark due to the aforementioned moths. They have small white flowers that are difficult to describe in easily understandable terms so instead I'm just going to leave an image of these flowers in the gallery :)
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The red stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha) is a tree species that is endemic to eastern regions of Australia. It tends to grow on hills with shallow soil that experience low to moderate amounts of rain. It, unlike the inland scribbly gum, experiences no significant changes in water intake when exposed to high concentrations of CO₂. It does experience an increase in growth in these high concentrations of CO₂, but not as significantly as the inland scribbly gum. The bark of this tree is used as nesting materials for several animals, and the flowers that it grows are an important source of nectar for several species of moths, butterflies, and other insects. It isn't that surprising then that it also attracts insectivorous birds.
Appearance
Growing to a height of around 20 - 35m tall, the red stringybark has grey to reddish-brown rough bark. Leaves reach around 10cm long on adult trees, and change from egg-shaped to lance-shaped as they develop. I'll attach an image of their flowers instead of describing them because that's probably the easiest way to get their appearance across :P
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The silver dollar tree (aka the Argyle apple, mealy stringbark, or Eucalyptus cinerea) is an interesting tree that is endemic to south-eastern regions of Australia. The essential oils that can be extracted from their leaves work as an effective insecticide against any unfortunate flies and other bugs that are unlucky enough to have it used against them. The timber and bark of this tree was used by the Wiradjuri people (who weren't located in present day Canberra but shhh I'll talk about what I want) in things like rope, tools, fires, and shelters.
Appearance
The silver dollar tree grows to heights of approximately 15 - 30m, and has rough reddish-brown/grey-brown bark (similar to that of the red stringybark). The leaves of this tree are a very light greenish-grey colour. Young leaves are very round and egg-shaped, growing to up to 8cm long. Intermediate leaves border between lance-shaped and egg shaped at a length of ~9cm, and adult leaves are up to 14cm long and lance shaped. The two subspecies, E. c. cinerea and E. c. triplex, display different leaves during adulthood. The E. c. cinerea subspecies displays mainly juvenile and intermediate leaves, and rarely shows any adult leaves. The E. c. triplex subspecies on the other hand displays mainly intermediate and adult leaves. Both of these subspecies appear to be present in the ACT.
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The crimson bottlebrush (also known as the common red bottlebrush, the lemon bottlebrush, Melaleuca citrina, or Callistemon citrinus) is a plant that is endemic to eastern Australia. Its roots produce a chemical known as leptospermone, which is a natural herbicide, and serves as a food source for a wide array of animals (eg, the eastern spinebill, crimson rosellas, etc). They have a lemony smell, which is the cause of one of the common names "lemon bottlebrush" and scientific name "citrina" (from citrus).
Appearance
Crimson bottlebrush shrubs tend to grow to around 2 metres high and wide, although can grow up to 5 metres. Its flowers are a vibrant red, and cluster in rows of spike-like protrusions at the end of branches. This creates a sort of cylinder of red flowers at the end of these branches. Their leaves are relatively thin, and can be seen to be covered in small hairs (these hairs can also be found on fresh branches!).
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The redflower mallow (also known as the bristly-fruited mallow, babosilla, Carolina bristlemallow, and Modiola caroliniana) is a common and somewhat edible plant that arrived in Australia some time between 1860 and 1880. It's actually the *only* member of the Modiola genus (a genus is just a group of similar species, so this one being alone is so so sad). It's a bit of a weed, and tends to grow fucking everywhere. Which is a shame since whilst it is *edible* it apparently doesn't taste all that good. They've got cool flowers though :)
Appearance
The redflower mallow has leaves that are around 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, alongside nice orange-red flowers. The fruit this plant bears are shaped like small fuzzy wheels, and honestly look a little silly (no offence of course. When I use silly here I'm using it in the most positive way possible). It grows quite flat with the ground, and.. there's not really more to this sentence, I just didn't want it to be awkwardly short.
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Chickweed (aka the common chickweed, chickenwort, chraches, maruns, winterweed, and Stellaria media) is a fairly common weed that can be found in farmland and gardens. It is edible, although there are some similar plants that are toxic, so be careful and make sure you google proper identification!! It's often used raw in salads, and is also eaten by a wide variety of birds. It contains small amounts of saponins, which makes it toxic to species of fish and is the reason it's not advised to be consumed by pregnant or breastfeeding mothers (it IS edible though. as long as ur not like. a fish. or pregnant).
Appearance
Chickweed features one (rarely two) straight lines of hairs that run down their stem. The stems can reach 40 cm long and are 1 mm wide, with small little white flowers. Each petal on their flowers look like two separate petals, however they're joined at the base to produce a total of 5 petals on every flower (though at first glance it may seem like 10). Inside the stem there's a thin, stringy core. I'll attach an image so you know what I mean :)
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Catchweed (aka cleavers, clivers, *sticky willy*, kisses, and Galium aparine) is a common type of weed throughout the ACT. It is edible (although I think it could be toxic to some chicken species so be careful if you are a chicken or just love chickens !!), with its dried leaves being commonly used in tea. Pulp made from mushed up catchweed has been used to treat light wounds and bands, alongside relieving pain from stings. Ancient Greek shephards would apparently use the stems of catchweed as a sieve, utilising the fine hairs present on the plant to strain milk. These hairs can also cause skin irritation for people with more sensitive skin, as these hairs will effectively just scratch them a bunch causing rash-like injuries. Catchweed used to be used as a part of mattress stuffing in Europe, as its sticky nature (elaborated further upon in the Appearance section) allowed the other bits of the stuffing to cling together and maintain a uniform density throughout the mattress. Also, the roots can be used as a permanent red dye, which is quite cool :) It tends to prefer moist soils, and doesn't require an area with good drainage in order to flourish. Catchweed serves as a food source for aphids and many other species of insects.
Appearance
Catchweed has a funky sort of appearance, with 6 to 8 long rounded leaves growing in rings all over their stems. Their stems can reach over a metre in length, or around 3 feet if you use horrible systems of measurement. The plant is covered with tiny hook-like hairs which allow it to stick to a wide variety of things, aiding it both in seed dispersal (by clinging to animal fur) and in growth (by clinging to its environment). They have tiny white flowers, each with 4 petals and present in clusters of 2 or 3. They also grow weird looking fruiting bodies in the form of spheres covered in hooked hairs. This species is VERY SIMILAR to Galium spurium, the false cleaver. There a couple of small differences, but the most obvious is that the flowers of the false cleaver are much more green.
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Red-anther wallaby grass (aka Rytidosperma pallidum) is a cool one. There's not much to really say about it, but it flowers from September to February and close up they look pretty cool. It seems to be fairly tolerant for kinda shitty low nutrient soil, and is as far as I'm aware not susceptible to certain species of root-rot fungi. Despite their tolerance for bad soil, they seem to prefer dry soil with good drainage, often found in foresty habitats. The cool part is the flowers, but they'll be described in the next section.
Appearance
Ok so the grass itself is fairly standard, just long with weird spikey shit at the top. When these areas at the top flower though, their flowers have unexpectedly really red components for a random grass. I'm sure in genuine wild examples of these flowers the red would probably be dulled down by dust and things, but there are some really cool photos people have gotten of these red parts of the flower. They look quite pretty but I couldn't find much in terms of cool biological information regarding this species, so I'm just entirely focussing on how cool these photos look.
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The golden wattle (aka Acacia pycnantha) is a wattle species that has been the official floral emblem of Australia since 1988. It is capable of converting nitrogen in the air (N₂) into a form that can be used to help the plant grow, which is particularly useful when the plant might be growing in an area with shitty soil that lacks the necessary nutrients the tree might need to survive. Many different bird species play key roles in the life cycle of the golden wattle, as they help with both pollination and cleaning up insects off the foliage. The flowers of the golden wattle have been used in several perfume recipes, and are sometimes used for commercial honey production. They tend to live for around 15 - 30 years, which really isn't very long for a tree. Can't all outlive multiple generations of humans I suppose.
Appearance
The golden wattle tends to grow between 8 and 3 metres in height, and features dark brown/grey bark. The bark gets more and more rough as the plant grows, and the tree typically flowers between July and November. The flowers are bunched into spheres, as is fairly common with wattle species, and are bright yellow. This species does look fairly similar to a couple of other wattle species, so if you're looking to identify a specific tree I'd recommend looking into that :)
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Horseweed (aka Canadian horseweed, Canadian fleabane, coltstail, marestail, butterweed and Erigeron canadensis/Conyanza canadensis) is a plant that is native to North and Central America and has been introduced to Australia artificially. It was actually the first weed to develop a resistance to glyphosate (a chemical used in herbicides), so good for them I suppose! Apparently infestations of horseweed have caused soybean yields in effected areas to be reduced by up to 83%, which honestly in my opinion seems a little rude. Like we get that you're a resistant weed that can proliferate easily but you could at least be cool about it instead of being annoying like this. It's also a good material for using if you're trying to make a fire using the drill method, so if you're ever in need of an emergency fire (???) this could be useful information I suppose?
Appearance
Horseweed grows to around 1.5 metres tall, with thin, unstalked leaves that can grow anywhere between 2 and 10 centimetres long. These leaves are usually no wider than 1 cm, and have slightly jagged edges. They grow in a sort of spiral-like pattern up the stem, and their flowers grow in dense clumps. The flower petals are mostly white, sometimes with a little bit of purple, and a yellow centre. There are some similar looking species (such as Erigeron sumatrensis and Erigeron bonariensis), however horseweed can be distinguished from these by looking at the specialised leaves (called "bracts") directly under the flower. These other species feature small red dots at the tips of their bracts, as well as a fair amount of hair. The bracts beneath the flowers of horseweed don't have this red marking, and also feature very little, if any, hair :)
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There's a wide variety of ways that gills can attach to the stem of a mushroom. Each of these attachment styles has a unique name, and these are used all the time to describe different species of mushroom. Typically, the gill attachment style of a particular species will range over a couple of similar ones, and these will be outlined on websites that describe fungus species (omg.. like mine!! only sometimes though. sometimes i just kinda forget lmao). Like they'll say things like "oh the gills are adnate to decurrent" which just means it can range between those two styles. Below I've attached images of a couple of common gill attachment styles, so I hope this helps :) Also, not all mushrooms have gills! Some will have pores, or maybe spiky teeth, but these attachment styles still hold up in those cases!
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