Yearly Archives: 2011

Plants

White Punk

White Punk fungus
White Punk fungus

Last June (2010) we noticed this monster growing out of an ironbark eucalypt about 3m off the ground. It’s known as a polypore fungus, Laetiporus portentosus, commonly called White Punk.

Judging from the surveyors staff we used to get a gauge on how far up the tree it was, the fungus would have been about 200mm high, and 200mm wide at the bottom.

It persisted on the tree for the rest of the year, only slowly deteriorating over time.

More information on this fungus and it’s traditional (and not so traditional) uses can be found on Australian Fungi – a Blog.

White Punk fungus
White Punk fungus growing out of an old tree wound site.
White Punk fungus
White Punk fungus from below
Photography

Smoke clouds

Autumn Smoke Cloud

In autumn, when the weather is suitable – not too windy and not too wet – the fuel reduction burn-offs and stubble burning starts across South Eastern New South Wales and North East Victoria. Many of these fires trigger the formation of clouds at the inversion layer if atmospheric conditions are right.

The colours of the forming cloud, including the characteristic smoke haze filtering the sunlight, and the stark contrast with the old dead ironbark tree caught my attention.

Spiders

Garden Orb Weaver

Garden Orb Spider - Eriophora transmarina
Garden Orb Spider – Eriophora transmarina

Garden Orb spiders (Eriophora transmarina) are very common garden spiders, especially around large trees at night when they come out to build their webs. Their scare-factor is high as the webs can span large distances across paths or between trees, easily walked into in twilight or the dark. The spider itself is not aggressive and not normally seen during the day. Continue reading Garden Orb Weaver →