Hygrocybe rhodophylla Kühner, 1977 (syn: Hygrocybe substrangulata var. rhodophylla (Kühner) Boertm., 1995);
At around 4.30 pm at Vibhuti falls, the clouds hold the sun hostage, after which the latter hardly shows up again. Soon, darkness sets everywhere. Around the same time, we saw these wonderful little red mushrooms (half a dozen of them) gleaming in the dark under a tall tree. Later, we came across a black shiny snake in the darkness trying to cross the boulders in the forest path. When our guide came in between the snake’s path, the little creature coiled its tail showing its red belly -what is known as cork screw display, its way warning a predator . Our guide could handle the coral snake with ease with a small twig and eventually release it safely into the jungle. In fact, just two days before he had been bitten by a baby pit viper. But like the people here do, he also relied on herbal medicines for the wound to heal and life went on as before.
Size: diameter :6cms aprox, length: around 1 meter length, Venomous: Not known
13 Oct 2010 5.34 PM
Mushroom Size < 1cms, heigth 1.5cms, cap dia -3cms,
Gills underneath present, No. found 6, edge of the forest path,
Vibhuti falls, Yana, Uttara Kannada
Habitat Damp dark, forest path
13 Oct 2010 4.50PM
Nice pics. For forests its said that the most colourful things are most dangerous. this goes for the snake as well as the mushroom. The snake above is Calliophis nigrescens (Black Coral Snake) and it is supposed to be deadly poisonous. I love dense forests and love to observe snakes…. yeah some of them are deadly poisonous ‘only’ if u hurt them… so never try to catch them….conversationalist. I hope the red mushroom is Hygrocybe rhodophylla Kühner The Striped Coral snake [Calliophis nigrescens var. khandallensis] to be precise. Yes, it is Hygrocybe rhodophylla. References:
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