Warning: Avoid picking or eating wild mushrooms in case they are poisonous. It can be extremely difficult - even for experienced mushroom collectors - to tell the difference between edible varieties and potentially deadly ones.
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A rain-drenched March has not just been great weather for ducks; it's also been a boon for mushroom pickers.
Many mushroom species need four days of rain to get the signal "that it's time to start spreading the spore", resulting in the fruity stems pushing their way up, said Ray Kearney, a retired Sydney University professor and chairman of the Sydney Fungal Studies Group.
The emergence of different mushroom species starts from early autumn and lasts right through winter.
The many varieties - numbering in their thousands in Australia - are highly dependent on temperature and rain, he said.
Some species, though, should be admired at a distance given their spores can trigger allergies if inhaled. These include the common shell-shaped schizophyllum mushrooms found growing on tree trunks.
"People should not go out and pick mushrooms to eat unless they are absolutely sure of the species," Professor Kearney said.
"There are lookalikes [to some edible species] and some are highly toxic.
The saffron milk cap (Lactarius deliciosus) is one introduced species that is edible - and now being picked with abandon in pine forests near Sydney.
"Stems have a distinctive pattern of darker orange blotches, [and] when cut, the gills exude a carrot-coloured milky juice," Professor Kearney said. "When bruised or old, the surface becomes green."
Also common among the pine rows are the fly agaric mushrooms (known scientifically as Amanita muscaria). These resemble those found in fairy tale picture books with their bright red cap and white flakes - but are poisonous.
Along with the beauty, fungal species play a rich and extensive role in ecosystems, with all orchid species dependent on them, Professor Kearney said.
One orchid species even mimics the odour of mushrooms to lure fungi gnats to help it pollinate.
While ample rain helps trigger the abundance of mushrooms, too much will leave many waterlogged.