Stamps depicting Fiji fungi
Lentinus squarrosulus.
STAMP collecting is a hobby enjoyed by many people.
According to an article by The Fiji Times on January 2, 1984, the Department of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of five stamps depicting Fiji fungi.
The details of the designs of stamps were:
Dacryopinax spathularia - 8c
It is widely distributed and may be found in almost any tropical country, but it is also found in sub-tropical and even some warm temperate regions.
This is a jelly fungus with small gelatinous fruitbodies which rarely exceeds a height of one centimeter.
They are found in tree stumps and dead wood.
Although variable, the fruitbodies are typically petal-shaped and are yellowish orange when fresh but soon dry up to a reddish brown colour and become hard.
They are attached to rotting wood by a short, furry, stern-like base.
The fruitbodies are only fertile (produce spores) on one side.
Podoscypha involuta - 15c This is a stalked bracket fungus with a variable colour.
It grows in stumps of dead wood and fallen trees.
It is widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical climates, including tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, Philippines, Samoa, Fiji and Australasia.
As with most fungi, it grows for the major part of its life cycle as fine strands (hyphae) absorbing nourishment from the material through which it grows, in this case, rotting wood.
It produces fruiting bodies on the surface on the wood, 1 to 6cm high and of a similar width.
They vary in form from being fan-shaped to funnelshaped.
The upper surface is light brown with narrow darker zones. When young, it has a fine furry surface.
The lower (or outer) surface, which produces spores, is yellow or orange with a white outer edge.
As it becomes older, the whole surface becomes brown.
Lentinus squarrosulus - 40c This is one of the most common forms of a larger fungi found throughout the tropics of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
The fruiting bodies usually occur in clusters of three to six, but occasionally in clusters of 20 or even 30.
The fruitbodies grow rapidly, but only have a short life span and are easily damaged by rain.
In some countries, for example Vietnam, the young fruitbodies are eaten, but they rapidly become too tough to eat.
The caps range from 2 to 7cm in diameter and the stem is about the same length.
The whole structure is white and may be recognised by zones of small scales on the cap and stem and by the very crowded gills under the cap.
Scleroderma flavidum - 50c This is found growing in small groups, the young stages being almost buried in the ground.
The fruit body is 2 to 4 cm in diameter, usually in the form of a rather flattened sphere and attached on the underside of the soil.
The outer skin is initially smooth and a light straw yellow in colour.
It later develops cracks and finally splits around the apex into several lobes. The internal brown spore mass is then exposed and spores are carried away by the wind.
Phillipsia domingensis - $1 This fungus is found throughout the tropics. Although it is quite small, it is one of the larger and more conspicuous of the cup-fungi, most of which are very small.
It’s fruiting bodies are found either single or in groups of 2 to 4 on rotting wood.
At first, they are cupshaped, but later they become flattened into a disc or saucer.
The cup is attached directly to the rotting wood or has a very short stalk.
The upper surface is fertile, producing the spores which are actively shot into the air.
This inner surface varies from dull red to reddish orange and in some cases, a violet colour. It remains smooth or slightly veined.
The outer surface is white to cream in colour and has a fine granular or furry surface.