Monster mushroom measures up

Something that could easily have come straight from a fairytale or Disney movie was discovered in the Ferguson Valley this week.

This monster mushroom was spotted by the side of the road by Tasma Haines on her way to visit her father Phil Morey.

“She saw this thing out of the corner of her eye and looked at it, and thought ‘gee that’s a big mushroom’,” Mr Morey said.

“So we both walked down and had a good look at it and took some photos.”

Mushrooms typically thrive in areas of high moisture and humidity with nutrients aplenty in the dense, decaying leaf litter.

“There’d be others around, but I haven’t seen any out in the paddocks – but there’s possibly some out there,” he said.

The over-sized mushroom measured in excess of 33cm across, with a stem easily 15cm long.

“If you go out in the bush you’ll see tree fungus on the sides of trees, but to see a mushroom like this, that’s once in 100 years I reckon.”

Mr Morey said he and his daughter were happy to leave the discovery to continue to grow and complete its life cycle.

Only once it begins to dry and break up will he remove it, saying he plans to spread the remains on his mulch heap in the hope of replicating this unique find.