Garden Fungi – Dictyopanus pusillus

 
Dictyopanus pusillus

(© SJM McMullan-Fisher)

Dictyopanus pusillus

(© SJM McMullan-Fisher)

 
Grows on WOOD.
 
Its common name is “Little Ping Pong Bats”. This fungus has its stem attached at the side of the cap and large pores underneath.
 
Fruit-body: This cream/white fungus is a small, not quite round and slightly kidney shaped with cream/white pores and a lateral stem. The cap diameter is to 12 mm, with a projection to 12 mm.
 
Stem: Cream/white; lateral – that is, off to one side, to 3 mm long, and is attached to the wood by a disc.
 
Spore print: White.
 
Smell: None.
 
Habit: Found in large masses usually on living and dead wet eucalyptus logs. It has been observed to colonise the same log for five years, disappearing in dry periods and returning after rain.
 
Notes: This is a saprotrophic fungus which specialises in rotting logs.
 
This is a Fungimap target species.