& Flowers: Funghi

The Magical Understory Of The Boranup Forest

Stroll beneath salmon pink karris and your eye is drawn upwards to the rustling wind in the canopy. It’s easy to miss the mushrooms and wildflowers growing in the damp earth below. But look a little closer beneath the fallen logs and leaf litter and you’ll discover a colourful and curious world of fungi, orchids and native wildflowers.

Curry punks, ghosts and ghouls

While some people see fungi as boring brown, orange and yellow, there’s a diverse range of weird and wonderful species in our region. Jane Scott, author of TheMagicalWorldofFungi , the Cape toCapeTrackGuidebookandWalkingAround in Circles says the shapes and colours can be quite fantastic. “Spectacular purples, deep reds to pale orange, yellow, pink and blue,” she says. “Some have fabulous names too – the curry punk with its vivid scent, the ghoul fungus that feeds on rotting animal remains and the bioluminescent ghost fungus that glows in the dark.”

There are dozens of types of fungi in Boranup Forest, and you’ll find them on the ground amongst the leaf litter or growing plate-like on the trunks of trees – some even grow parasitically on roots, out of sight. Grab a copy of Jane’s WalkingAroundinCircles book at the Margaret River Visitor Centre and you’ll find pages of fungi illustrations accompanying the Cape Freycinet walk, an 8km stroll in Boranup Forest.

“We didn’t realise until after the Boranup fire that there’s a whole lot of fungi dependent on fire,” says Jane. “Little orange and purple fungi came up in the days after the fire, and weeks later we saw quite a few stonemaker fungi.”

Stonemaker looks like a normal fungus on the ground but it has a huge, heavy appendage underneath the soil.

Great recyclers

“Mushrooms are amazing!” says Dr Erika Jacobson of Edgewalkers, a guided walk specialist. “Fungi are cleaning up oil spills, they can tolerate more radiation than humans, and there’s so much still unknown.” There is plenty more going on in nature that we can’t see. “It’s looking like fungi will help us solve some crucial environmental issues in terms of toxic waste. They consume it. It’s a particular type of fungi that can break through it, and research is ongoing.”

The remarkable thing about mushrooms is that we see the fruiting bodies above ground, but below ground there could be kilometres of hyphae – threadlike equivalent of roots that harness the water and nutrients in the soil and deliver them up into the trees. Meanwhile the trees photosynthesise and provide the mushroom with energy. It’s a symbiotic relationship; they absolutely need each other.

Delicate blossoms

You think Boranup Forest can’t possibly get more breathtaking, then winter brings a tangle of purple hardenbergia, tree hovea and clematis, a white star-shaped climber. Beneath it, tiny orchids, so beautifully camouflaged that only a trained eye can spot them.

“The first bunny orchids come out at Easter, and the cockies tongue marks the start of wildflower season,” says Dr Erika Jacobson. “There’s an amazing array of wildflowers across a long season, with full colour and abundance September to November.”

After the fire

Jane Scott is tipping a great wildflower season in 2023. “Look for the climbers – native wisteria, coral vines, white clematis – all working hard to flower and come back. Some of the wattles, pea flowers, eggs and bacon and orchids are set for a beautiful season, too.” Karri, jarrah and marri trees have little buds under their bark designed to shoot after fire, and you can see that epicormic growth as you explore Boranup, and in Mammoth Cave’s Marri Walk. “Sedges and zamia palms came up just days after the fire, balga trees started shooting at the tip,” says Jane.

Forest Bathing

Erika brings guests to Boranup on creativity retreats, and says people love being immersed in wilderness, yet still so close to ‘civilisation’. “Five minutes in a forest can physically alter the chemicals in our bodies. Our parasympathetic system allows us to relax, cortisol levels go down.”

Delve deeper

Wet autumn and winter are the best times to find fungi in Boranup Forest. Grab Jane Scott’s books to guide your Boranup wanderings. Find That Flower is brilliant too. Arranged by colour, it makes identifying blooms a breeze.

Jane implores us to please stick to paths to avoid compacting the soil or causing damage, and to never eat fungi without getting a positive identification from an expert. And remember fungi are protected in the same manner as native plants – it is illegal to collect them from National Parks.

Find out more about Dr Erika Jacobson’s creativity retreats at edgewalkers.com.au.

Walking in nature enhances our ability to think creatively, says Erika, and her retreats tap into the wonders of Boranup along with plantbased cooking, walking and yoga.

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