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Sporing 
Spores of Mycena lampadis at
10x magnification through a
CCD CMOS camera. |
Spore
Release:
The spore release was photographed of an elevated specimen in our enclosed environment
with the specimen being placed at 1.5 metres above ground level in near still
conditions. The only air movement being natural convection as the external wind-driven
exhaust fans in the ceiling were not moving at the time of the photograph being taken.
Temperature 25° C. RH 75%
The spore release very gently wafted a distance of 5 metres slowly rising up into the
warmer air close to the ceiling toward the ventilation aperture. This spore trail remained
intact before being disturbed by our breathing and movement in our enthusiasm to obtain
more photographs.
The spore drift can be likened to a fine smoke trail.
Dependant on climatic conditions, occurs usually on the third or fourth day of development
of the fruit body. If a specimen mushroom is detached from it's growth medium, spore
release can prematurely occur within one to two hours. Click either image for larger photo |
| 2 |
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Spore print of Mycena
lampadis captured in a
petrie dish.
Click the image for more detail. |
| 3 |
 
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Mycena
lampadis culture 20-01-2011 Cardboard 'raft' method where the
propagation nutrient is absorbed
through the cardboard to germinate the spore that is then transferred to MYA medium in
petrie dishes for rapid culture.
Click the image for magnified view
Mycena lampadis
culture 20-01-2011
Cardboard 'raft' method
close-up
Click the image for magnified view |
| 4 |
 
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Mycena
lampadis culture plated 11-02-2011 replated 23-02-2011 Petrie dish contains 4 days growth of Mycena
lampadis mycelia growing on MYA grown from a 10mm x 10mm x 10mm wedge of MYA and mycelium
cut from the mother plate.
Click the image for magnified view
Mycena lampadis
culture plated 11-02-2011 replated 23-02-2011
Open dish view
Click the image for magnified view |
| 5 |
 
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Mycena
lampadis mycelium . Microscopy via a 10x objective using a CCD camera
Click the images for magnified view |
| 6 |
Entomobryidae / Collembola
| Kingdom: |
Animalia |
| Phylum: |
Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: |
Hexapoda |
| Class: |
Entognatha (disputed) |
| Subclass: |
Collembola |
| Order: |
Entomobryomorpha |
| Superfamily: |
Entomobryoidea |
| Family: |
Entomobryidae |
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Mycelium bug in cultures
03-03-2011
In addition to slugs,
snails , crickets, cockroaches, beetles and gnats , we can now add
yet another creature to the
list of species that depend on luminous mushrooms for their food,
a species of springtail (Collembola) that can jump a
remarkable distance when disturbed.4/0.1x objective pic via
microscope/CCD camera of a flea-like bug living in the mycelium in the petrie dishes. As
all my petrie dishes are sealed with tape, the bugs or eggs of this bug must have either
been in the gills of the mushroom when the spore was collected or on the spores before
they were germinated.
They were not noticed during the spore germination process, which leads me to believe that
they emerged from eggs as the mycelium grew from the spores.
Being so small (0.1 to 0.2mm approx) the bugs were not sighted
in the initial stage of the cultures. However they were noticed
multiplying in recent mycelia replates. These bugs possibly
caused a contamination we
had here previously that developed into a black liquid slime mould emerging through the
mycelium on the plates as a black bubble.
Several infested plates have been treated to
exterminate these bugs before any more replating is done.
Click the image for magnified view |
| 7 |
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Mycena
lampadis cultures 20-02-2011 Bottom RHS dish contains 14 days growth of Mycena lampadis mycelia
grown from spore.
Click the image for magnified view |
| 8 |
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Mycena
lampadis culture Last
step prior to log inoculation is to transfer the mycelium from the petrie dishes into
rough cut wood plugs . This is the slowest process and takes up to one year to achieve a
coating of mycelium. These plugs are then used to inoculate hardwood logs by drilling
50mm deep x 18mm diameter holes and hammering the oversize plugs into the holes.
Click the image for magnified view |
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| 9 |
Inoculation / log
culture/ fruiting 
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Mushroom
cultivation
It can take 3 to 5 years which is probably the reason why people are not growing luminous
mushrooms.
After 23 years of experimenting with most known methods of growing mushrooms only one long
term method stands out for the study of our luminous mushrooms.
If people wish to grow them short-term in plastic bags, then this can be achieved using
steps 1 to 5 , in two years or perhaps less if the ideal climatic conditions
can be provided using wood shavings in lieu of
hardwood plugs as the carrier medium or substrate.
I have chosen the use of hardwood logs for the preservation of the species as our
Australian hardwoods can be the "species bank" for the long
term. Our hardwood timber
can bear and sustain the species for 10 years or more depending on the diameter of the
logs used.
Using previously inoculated logs after being stacked for 7 to 10 years, fungal transfer by association occurs
in lieu of inoculation by simply adding more logs to the stacks.
Luminous mushrooms still take much longer than edible mushrooms to produce, but the end
result is worth waiting for. Click
the image for magnified view
Garry.Maguire |
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Comparison of M.Lampadis with M.chlorophanos Click the image for magnified view |
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05-03-2003
Tissue Culture
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Mycena lampadis [Maguire 1988]
Luminous mushroom
Specimen # 004: Day 10
Tissue culture exuding mycelia on an agar plate ..... advancing nicely.
Click the image for magnified view
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Mycena lampadis [Maguire 1988]
Luminous mushroom
Specimen # 004: Day 4
25mm diameter specimen found growing on a wattle branch.
Note the mycelial growth pattern.
Tissue taken from an exceptional luminous mushroom both in size , shape and
bioluminescenceClick the
image for magnified view
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Mycena lampadis [Maguire 1988]
Luminous mushroom
Stem tissue propogated mycelium growing on substrate in a 500ml jar.10 days growth displayed.
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Mycena lampadis
Specimen # 14: Day 1
Juvenile fruit body (daytime shot)
Note the sticky fluid starting to flow from the stipe (stem) orifice to coat the pileus.
Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis
Specimen # 14: Day 1.5
Juvenile fruit body (daytime shot)
Note the sticky fluid being "pumped" from the stipe (stem) orifice of the
pileus. The use of this sticky fluid produced by the mushrooms although as yet
undetermined, could be excreted to cover the pileus as either a UV sun-screening
fluid to protect the micro-thin pileus from solar radiation, or to protect the mushroom
from being prematurely eaten by insects.
In support of this hypothesis, the absence of this sticky fluid on occasional
specimens that do not display bioluminescent
properties appears to cause premature desiccation of the mushrooms when exposed to
sunlight. Click the image for
magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis
Specimen # 14: Day 2
Maturing fruit body (daytime shot)
Looking straight through the fluid coating
into the stipe (stem) orifice in the pileus. Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis
Specimen # 23: Day 2.5
Juvenile fruit body (daytime shot)
The host log has been inverted to show the sticky fluid running across the pileus.
Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena
lampadis
Click the image for magnified view |
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16-01-2008: The first fruiting of Mycena lampadis produced from
inoculation with barley spawn into a softwood rainforest timber log in 2006. Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena
lampadis
Specimen # 070208
Author holding a good size specimen of Mycena lampadis.
Click the image for magnified view |
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Side
view showing the basal disc Click
the image for magnified view |
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Topside...note
the pure creamy-white cap. Click the
image for magnified view
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Full
underside view Click the image for
magnified view |
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Part
side and part underside view Click
the image for magnified view |
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Side view square on showing the shape of the pileus. Click the image for magnified view
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Mycena
lampadis Specimen # 21
night shot.
This extraordinary specimen both in form and luminosity measuring 30mm pileus diameter is
currently being cloned.
The dark patches are dislodged particles
of rotting wood fallen from the host log that have been firmly attached to the pileus by
the sticky fluid coating. Click the
image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis Specimen # 21
Day shot underneath showing the configuration of the hymenium. Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis Specimen # 21: day shot underneath
close-up showing the fluid excreting orifice
inside the cut away stipe (stem). Click
the image for magnified view |
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19-02-2005
Mycena lampadis Specimen # 190205: Topside
This exceptional specimen and others resulted from inoculation of a log cut from a fallen
Red Apple tree (Acmena ingens) some 3 years ago and kept in 24 hour darkness.
Digital Video capture in night mode
at 150mm focal length. Click the
image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis Specimen # 190205: Underside
Digital Video capture in night mode
at 150mm focal length.
Click the image for magnified view |
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Mycena lampadis specimen # 040305:
Digital Video capture in night mode
at 300mm focal length.
This cluster of specimens produced enough light to read a newspaper in total darkness.
Click the image for magnified view |
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