Thelephora penicillata

Thelephora penicillata

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Thelephorales

Family: Thelephoraceae

Thelephora penicillata (synonym Thelephora spiculosa), forms rosette-like fans in clusters among mosses on the forest floor, most often under spruce trees. These short-lived fruitbodies can be found from late summer through to the end of autumn. (This and other earthfans are known to form mycorrhizal relationships with forest treesl; however, it is likely that they can also live as saprobes, feeding on dead and decaying timber on the forest floor.)

When growing on the forest floor, even a ‘good’ specimen has rather a downtrodden appearance. These fairly common earthfans are special in at least one respect, however: rare saprophytic orchids including Epipogium aphyllum, the Ghost Orchid, and Coralorrhiza trifida, the Coralroot Orchid, are reported to parasitise the mycorrhizae formed between trees and this particular earthfan species.

Identification guide

Fruitbody

Short-lived rosette-like fans lying low on the forest floor looking as though they have been trodden on, even when they have not; purple at the base and white or cream towards the branched and pointed tips, turning brown from the centre; 4 to 15cm across; individual spines 2 to 7cm long.

Spore print

Purplish-brown.

Odour/taste

Not distinctive.

Habitat

In coniferous forests.

Season

July to November.

Occurrence

Fairly frequent.

Similar species

The rather less common Earthfan, Thelephora terrestris, is seen most often on dry sandy soils, particularly with pines but also with various eucalypts.