Omphalotus nidiformus - the ghost fungi



Click the picture for full size and notes.
There is an easy way to tell if a fungus is Omphalotus nidiformis: look at it in a pitch dark room. After a while, you will see a ghostly green glow coming from the fungus. The fresher they are, the more they glow - they sometimes even seem to throb.

This gilled fungus has fruit bodies which are typically funnel-shaped, with a cap which is often white, but be dark yellow, black, brown, blue or purple (especially in the centre). The gills and spore print are white. Omphalotus nidiformis usually grows in clusters at the base of dead trees.

Although it looks similar to the commercially available oyster mushroom Omphalotus nidiformis is poisonous, causing severe vomiting. It is sometimes confused with Pleurotus species, which are non-luminescent.

James Drummond, an early settler and plant collector in Western Australia talked of a large luminous mushroom (most likely Omphalotus nidiformis) and reported that several Aboriginal people, when they saw it "...cried out 'Chinga!' their name for a spirit, and seemed much afraid of it".

This fungus has been sited in New England National Park, Barrington Tops National Park, suburban Sydney, and many other locations in NSW. Victoria and Tasmania.