Bottom of the garden

摘要

Photographer Steve Axford found this Schizophyllum fungus growing in his backyard. And what's so special about his backyard? It's pretty big for a start. Axford owns more than 3 hectares of lowland subtropical rainforest close to Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia. There's even a platypus living in the creek running through it. "I am slowly replanting my land with original vegetation and I have planted over 2000 trees, so far," he says. The area is close to the Tweed volcano, so the soil is of a type rich in iron oxide, known as krasnozem soil. It also gets about 1800 millimetres of rainfall a year, making it great for trees - and fungi. "Fungi are stunningly beautiful, especially when they grow in perfect conditions, like in the rainforest," Axford says.