YOU never know what interesting flora or fauna you might find living in the south-west.

Jeff Nagorcka walked out of his home in Hamilton North last Wednesday only to spot an unusual cluster of mushrooms to the side of his property.

“I was just going up the driveway and I thought, ‘What’s that?’”, he said.

“I stopped and had a look because it just looked so different.”

The fungi appeared to be Mycena clarkeana - an Australian endemic species listed on the Atlas of Living Australia as occurring mainly in Victoria, although all other states other than the Northern Territory have reported sightings.

Mycenas are species that are hard to identify, and they generally break down complex compounds found in wood, explaining why they are frequently found on dead wood in rain forests during autumn and winter.

Interestingly, over 58 of the species are known to be bioluminescent, creating a glow known as foxfire.

Not considered edible, Jeff’s mushroom discovery might be a timely reminder to take care with wild fungi.

The Victorian Government’s BetterHealth website warns people “unless you are an expert, do not pick and consume wild mushrooms in Victoria” and “there is no ‘home test’ that can help you tell the difference between safe and edible mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms.”

One of the deadliest mushrooms – death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) - has unfortunately taken four lives in Australia and is responsible for about 90 per cent of all mushroom deaths in the world, in part due to its similar appearance to edible mushrooms.

But for Jeff, he was purely interested in finding such an interesting-looking organism at home.

“Never seen it before – normally it’s just a single mushroom, and there’s all the thousands of varieties,” he said.