Now they're magic mushrooms! Amazing images reveal alien-like toadstools and glow-in-the-dark fungi lighting up forests



Photographer Stephen Axford from Melbourne, has spent 12 years capturing the mushrooms of New South Wales

He photographs large species measuring 16 inches tall to tiny fungi invisible to the naked eye using a macro lens

Specimens photographed include bioluminescent mushrooms, slimy and delicate fungi as well as some that look like aliens and coral




With luminous colours and alien-like features, these mesmerising mushrooms look like they belong on another planet.



But from glow-in-the-dark caps to delicate pastel gills and even slimy stalks, they all grow on Earth in an array of diverse and mysterious forms.



Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, has spent 12 years snapping the fungi.



An eerie sight: With luminous colours and alien-like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet. There are thought to be 65 species of luminescent mushrooms such as the Mycena chlorophos pictured - which use a reaction that emits light when water and oxygen are present so they glow 24 hours a day, but are visible at night

‘This project came together all by itself,’ said the resident of Melbourne, who started photographing mushrooms across Australia in 2002.



‘As I collected more and more photos it became obvious that I should do something with them, as it would be such a pity to just collect them and then let them die with me without any one seeing them.



‘I am very fortunate in that I live in a place that has plenty of fungi, and when I started photographing fungi, I knew nothing about it.



Hidden treasure: Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, has spent 12 years snapping the fungi, some of which glows in the dark. These specimens appear to be holding silver pearls and looks slightly like an oyster

Deserves a fanfare: This Panus fasciatus is known as the 'hairy trumpet' and looks as it if should be growing on another planet. However the fungus can be found in Australian woods and forests and often grows from rotting logs. These specimens appear to be providng a temporary home for a small stripy insect

‘Now I am learning not only their names and how they survive, but also a little of how they fit into the world and the importance of the role that they play.



‘Many plants and animals could not survive as they rely on fungi to provide them nutrition’



From monstrous specimens measuring 16 inches (40cm) in height to tiny fungi just one millimetre in size, Mr Axford photographs them all.



Lighting up the woods: Bioluminescent mushrooms emit light 24 hours per day but are best observed at night. There are about 85,000 species in the fungi kingdom and around just 65 of them are thought to be luminescent. Here, Mycena chlorophos illuminate pitch-black woodland

Gloriously glossy: From monstrous specimens measuring 40cm in height to tiny fungi just one millimetre in size, Mr Axford photographs them all. This specimen has a large, irregular cap that appears to be glossy

When they are too small to see with the naked eye, he uses a macro lens to reveal the fungi’s beauty.



A fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes micro-organisms such as yeasts and moulds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.



Mr Axford said: ‘I live in an area of New South Wales that used to be an old volcano, so it has rich volcanic soil and lots of rain mainly in the summer.



Alien Invasion? When the fungi are too small to see with the naked eye, he uses a macro lens to reveal their beauty. This Mycena Interrupta looks a little like an alien. The species does not glow-in-the-dark but matures to have a brilliant blue cyan cap

Diverse: A fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes micro-organisms such as yeasts and moulds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. They come in many shapes and sizes. Hygrocybe viscidocruenta is pictured left and Mycena Interrupta right with its pretty cyan caps



Could have starred in Ghostbusters: Hygrocybe graminicolor (pictured) is charmingly known as the 'slimp green waxcap' as its luminous green body is coated in a thick, glutinous substance. It only grows in wet rainforests to the south of Australia

‘This is perfect for sub-tropical fungi which thrive in summer and so about half of my photos are taken at my home and the rest mostly from close by.



‘My pictures show the beauty in the world, but they also stimulate me to find out more about how the world fits together.



Under the sea? This Panus fasciatus looks as if it should live beneath the waves in a tropical reef but it can be found in the forests of Australia. Its delicate gills curl upwards and the caps have delicate hairy details

Delicate: Mr Axford lives in an area of New South Wales that used to be a volcano, so it has rich volcanic soil and lots of rain in the summer. Such conditions are necessary to support incredible structures such as this mushroom, which has impossibly delicate gills

Like little flowers: Marasmius Haematocephalu look like flowers and play an essentialrole in forest ecosystems by helping to break down the litter layer of the forest floor. They are small and are often overlooked by collectors

‘I also try to make the colours true - though the lighting will enhance that at times. Most people love my fungi photos which encourages me to keep taking them.



‘I try to get as many people as possible to see them, in the hope that they will stimulate an interest in fungi, and I think this is working.’

It's best side: The photographer waits for the perfect lighting conditions to showcase the fungi in all their glory. Anthracophyllum archeri is pictured, which is also known as the orange fan. Masses of the fungus can cover dead twigs in the forest