Common around The Gap in the wet

Pink Bonnet Marasmius haematochephalus is commonly seen in the wet season in The Gap Rainforest along the bike path and in backyards – even in the lawn. This delicate fungus has a thin, dark pink, conical cap, which is scalloped at the edges to 1.5 mm diameter, margins ribbed. Gills widely spaced. Stem thin, wiry, dark brown, shiny to 4 cm long. A group of them can be lifted off the surface by picking up a group of leaves they are growing from, which exposes the fibres from which the fruiting bodies arise. Magenta (sometimes pale pink) caps that are rather irregular (lumpy looking) due to the wide apart gills, very thin and papery and soon look dried out, on thin magenta stalks which turn darker as they age. Marasmius haematochephalus can appear in large numbers, sometimes with deep magenta colours, standing out in contrast to the brown, decaying leaf litter. The name Marasmius comes from the Greek word marasmos, meaning drying out or withering. The species name is haemato meaning blood and chephalus meaning head.

From above. Photo: Robert Whyte

Showing gills. Photo: Robert Whyte

PHOTO: Diana Ekeroth