Bidding Adieu to Bukit Gasing: A Final Foray

One last mushroom hunt at Bukit Gasing with friends before leaving Malaysia.

After spending nearly six months in Malaysia, it’s time for me to leave (temporarily - I will be in Thailand next). And what better way to go than with one last mushroom hunt at Bukit Gasing, a place I would frequent often and spend considerable time exploring. 

I met with my friends in the early morning outside the temple, and we began a five-hour journey meandering through the trails, spotting all sorts of interesting species that would make for one of the most successful outings and an ideal sendoff.

When I first came to Bukit Gasing, my friend Jerry was my guide. And she’d keep her finger on the fungi pulse for many future outings.

Excited, she showed me a magical tree stump that produced some of the most unique and diverse species.

Inflatostereum sp.

First was the resilient, long-lasting dark blue Inflatostereum sp., a maroon Mycena, and then some Pseudobaeospora sp. Not to mention all the busy yellow-dotted fungus beetles on the brackets.

Goes to show that a “dead” stump or log is anything but!

We headed down to the other side of the stream and came upon a popular log that hosts even more diverse species. Each time we visit the log, a new species appears, and this time an undescribed one.

A pink-spored Entoloma-like mushroom reminded me of the same funnel-like gill morphology Arrheria has. 

Climbing up the hill towards the Kerinchi side, the group shouted excitedly and pointed down. Amongst the leaves, three dark blue Entoloma cf. burkilliae with cracked caps stood out.

Entoloma cf. burkilliae

These blue ones have recently appeared, and the ones at Gasing were slightly different from those found at Bukit Kiara the other week.

I noticed tiny white powdery growths sticking out of the sides of the trail. This kind of growth was a familiar sight, something I’d gotten used to finding in New Zealand.

I immediately suspected cordyceps, a topic we discussed at the beginning of the hike! This would be a common theme, as it seemed that whatever species we discussed, we’d find them the next minute. 

I carefully excavated the minute parasitized ant and placed it on my cheap but effective clip, allowing me to set up this macro shot. The others helped with lighting and placing my black velvet backdrop to block the unwanted backlight.

Other people at the park were wondering what these weirdos were up to, so I had to show them this:

Ophiocordyceps sp. parasitizing an ant

Buzzing, we kept finding increasingly more exciting species. My friend Siew mentioned that she had seen a red Hygrocybe species that had reappeared after we spotted them a few months back. 

Hygrocybe sp. growing on tongue fern

To cap off the foray, the rotting log that produced the first Cat’s Tongue Fungus I’d found on my first outing made a reappearance. This time, the log was covered in them!

Pseudohydnum sp.

The motto for the foray was ask and you shall receive. My last mushroom hunt at Bukit Gasing was a truly memorable experience, and the enthusiasm of my friends made the foray a success. Till we meet again.