Bracket fungus from above

Seen in a southerly water rich part of the Langkloof where fynbos battles invader alien plants, the genus Ganoderma comes to mind when inspecting this bracket fungus, but without any certainty. It may also be from the genus Stereum, or something else, let alone the species name.

There is a Mycology Unit in the Plant Protection Institute of the Agricultural Research Council at Roodeplaat, Pretoria, where thousands of specimens of South African fungi are preserved for use by scientists.

Mycology is the science of fungi. Dried herbarium specimens as well as living cultures are retained by this Unit in the interest of research. The 63000 specimens in the Unit represent material from all the continents. The aim of the work at the Unit is preserving the South African biodiversity.

As with plants, also fungi comprise indigenous species and invaders, beneficial or harmful to local biodiversity. Some of the harmful invaders attack indigenous plant species (www.arc.agric.za; Wikipedia).