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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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[AU] Enthusiast studies underbelly of nature to shed light on fungi
#14475325 - 05/18/11 08:33 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Enthusiast studies underbelly of
nature to shed light on fungi
May 18, 2011 - canberratimes.com.au
It's a dazzling world that reveals itself in the most unassuming of
places, such as beneath rotting logs.
Heino Lepp has been foraging for fungi for the past 15 years and can
often be found scouring the ground, head down, with an intent look in
his eyes.
His interest in the colourful organisms was piqued while bushwalking in
Canberra and the keen mycologist now spends his days travelling the
country in search of ''paint fungi, a two dimensional type of fungi
that is often mistaken as a layer of paint on the underside of
discarded branches and logs.
''Most people are familiar with mushrooms, stinkhorns or puff balls.
This type of fungi looks like an extra skin and is typically found on
the other side of wood. It's very interesting but to the naked eye
there is not much detail. I spend my time turning pieces of rotten wood
on the ground.''
For the past decade Mr Lepp has been spreading his love of fungi to
Canberrans through a public lecture series at the Australian National
Botanic Gardens.
Mr Lepp is an honorary scientific associate of the botanic gardens and
his 10-week Thursday lecture series covers everything from how a fungi
disperses spore to the economic, social and cultural impacts of fungi.
One of the most common questions Mr Lepp is asked is about poisonous
fungi in Canberra.
''Some people don't realise there is poisonous fungi in Canberra. The
death cap is the deadliest one, it basically upsets your kidney and
liver function. The poison in the death [cap] prevents the cell from
reading its DNA, it's own instruction book.''
Although he hasn't seen many death caps in Canberra this autumn, Mr
Lepp said the deadly fungi was about, particularly in the northern and
southern suburbs where oak trees were more prevalent.
There are more than 5000 specimens in Mr Lepp's ever-expanding
collection. And for every day of field work he spends 10 days looking
down a microscope.
''The group I look at is not very well studied, I'm curious to see what
there is and find species that aren't reported yet. Canberra has such a
variety of habitats, you see such wonderful things.''
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PassiveAgressive
Sleepy-_-kinoko!




Registered: 10/16/09
Posts: 924
Loc: Tueri honorare saltus
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Re: [AU] Enthusiast studies underbelly of nature to shed light on fungi [Re: veggie]
#14475674 - 05/18/11 09:36 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Bravo! Precisely what I would love to be doing!
-------------------- (\___/) (= ‘.’=) (”)__(”) Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.
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