Septobasidium sp.

WendyM's farm at Freshwater Ck.

Septobasidium sp. at WendyM's farm at Freshwater Ck. - 31 Jan 2024
Septobasidium sp. at WendyM's farm at Freshwater Ck. - 31 Jan 2024
Septobasidium sp. at WendyM's farm at Freshwater Ck. - 31 Jan 2024
Request use of media

Identification history

Septobasidium sp. 26 Aug 2024 Heino1
Septobasidium sp. 24 Jul 2024 WendyEM
Unidentified 23 Apr 2024 WendyEM

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Fungi? on living branches of large bipinnate Acacia sp

3 comments

Heino1 wrote:
   24 Jul 2024
This is a species of Septobasidium. The species of Septobasidium parasitize scale insects (without killing them), which in turn parasitize the host plant. The fungus grows into a carpet-like covering over a colony of scale insects.
WendyEM wrote:
   24 Jul 2024
Thank you. That is very interesting. I wonder if both of these attacks are due to the trees approaching the end of their lives (40+ yrs) and dying?
Heino1 wrote:
   25 Jul 2024
There need not be any connection. I've seen Septobasidium on young to old plants (of various genera), not too surprising since you can get scale insects on plants of various ages. Septobasidiums are generally some shade of brown (e.g. pale milk coffee brown, rusty brown, blackish brown), often with fuzzy, white(ish) margins, with a somewhat velvety feel and the surface may be creviced. The genus is usually easy to recognize by sight. My hazy recollection is that much is unknown about Septobasidium in Australia.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Septobasidium sp. Scientific name
  • Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 654.9m Recorded at altitude
  • Machine learning

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
1,894,840 sightings of 21,090 species in 9,306 locations from 12,939 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.