Unidentified

Hi Libby, They look very like the things I've labelled as "Gymnopilus sp. thick stem", growing out of wattle logs on our place. I never got a definite ID on them though beyond Gymnopilus sp. (https://atlasoflife.naturemapr.org/Sightings/4207658). They have the same scaly look to the upper surface of the cap. Books are usually unforthcoming about the toxicity or otherwise of fungi, so it is probably just safest to assume they are all poisonous to some degree. Gymnopilus are not among the ones usually mentioned as being very toxic, but maybe that's just because they don't resemble any familiar edible species, so people are unlikely to try them.