• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Category Archives: fungi

More woodland rusts

15 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Dog's mercury, Melampsora populnea, primrose, Puccinia primulae, rust fungi, rust on Dog's mercury, rust on Primrose

I was admiring the glorious display of Primrose in a local wood when I noticed that many of the plants’ leaves had yellowish spots on their upper leaves. Rust, I thought, and, sure enough, on turning the leaves over, I could see the tiny cup-shaped aecia on the undersides, which confirmed this as Primrose rust (Puccinia primulae).

I found this second rust during today’s woodland meander. It’s Melampsora populnea on Dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis). Once again, there are yellowish marks on the upper leaves and, this time, rather than cups, there are minuscule splodges of yellow underneath. Neither of these rusts seems to do much harm to the plants.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Woodland rusts

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Celandine clustercup fungus, Melampsora epitea, rust fungi, rust on Lesser celandine, rust on Soindle, rusts on plant leaves, Uromyces dactylidis

During my wander through a local woodland earlier this week, while admiring the golden carpets of Lesser celandine, I noticed small spots on some of the leaves. Closer examination and some photos showed that this was the rust Uromyces dactylidis, also known as Celandine clustercup fungus for the clusters of tiny orange cup-shaped aecia on the undersides of the leaves.

220408 Uromyces dactylidis (1)
220408 Uromyces dactylidis (2)

Once I had my ‘rust eye’ in, I then noticed more on other plants. Many, like Bluebell rust (Uromyces muscari) I have covered here before but this one, Melampsora epitea on Spindle (Euonymus europaeus), was a new one for me.

220408 Melampsora epitea (1)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Pin mould

25 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British fungi, mould fungus, Mucorales species, Pin mould

The Sweet potatoes in my latest food delivery were well past their use-by date, though I’ve salvaged what I can. On the plus side, Pin mould up close …

220325 pin mould

Like this:

Like Loading...

A cascade of brackets

04 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bracket fungi, British fungi, Trametes versicolor, Turkeytail

One positive from all the recent rain has been the rehydration of resident fungi. The last time I visited this dead tree its brackets were looking dry and shrivelled. Now, it’s like a flood of fungi, six feet of rippling rapids, a veritable cascade of colourful brackets.

220304 brackets

Like this:

Like Loading...

Rusty bluebells

25 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bluebell, Bluebell rust, British rusts, rust on Bluebells, rust on plants, Uromyces muscari

It will be some weeks yet before we see the first Bluebell flowers but I found my first examples of Bluebell rust (Uromyces muscari) during today’s walk. One to look out for….

220225 bluebell rust

Like this:

Like Loading...

Cakes a’baking

18 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British fungi, Daldinia concentrica, King Alfred's Cakes

King Alfred’s been busy baking his famous cakes in my local woodland – and, amazingly, he hasn’t yet burnt them all. This batch looks particularly tasty!

220218 king alfred's cakes
~ King Alfred’s cakes (Daldinia concentrica)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Bird’s-nests revisited

11 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bird's nest fungus, British fungi, Common bird's-nest fungus, Crucibulum laeve

Tuesday’s walk took me past the site where I found the Shooting star and Common bird’s-nest fungi last month. Both are still thriving, and I thought I’d share this photo, which shows the bird’s-nest fungi much more clearly than in my previous post. It’s easy to see how they got their name.

220211 common bird's-nest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Elf cup? Try cauldron

21 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, winter

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British fungi, elfcup, red elfcups

You’ve heard of elf cups? Well, this was more of an elf cauldron! So, if you go down to Cwm George wood tonight, be prepared to see a horde of partying, drunken elves.

220121 elfcup

Like this:

Like Loading...

Shooting stars

14 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Artillery fungus, British fungi, Cannonball fungus, Shooting star fungus, Shotgun fungus, Sphaerobolus stellatus

This was a first for me, an amazing cluster of fungi within inches of the Common bird’s nest fungi I blogged about yesterday. Variously named ‘Shooting star’, ‘Shotgun’, Artillery’ and ‘Cannonball’ fungus, Sphaerobolus stellatus gets its name from the way it shoots out its spores, apparently with a popping sound that you can actually hear and at a force that sends them flying up to 6 metres.

220114 shooting star (1)

I haven’t been able to find a lot of information about this fungus except for the Wikipedia entry on the genus Sphaerobolus, which looks reliable and includes some of the more technical details of its eruptive system, if you’re interested in the nitty gritty. I’m planning to return when it’s drier for another look and to get better photos.

220114 shooting star (2)
220114 shooting star (3)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Common bird’s nests

13 Thursday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bird's nest fungi, British fungi, Common bird's-nest fungus, Crucibulum laeve

I had planned a long walk along a local beach but unforecast hail and almost constant showers sent me stomping homeward sooner than expected, a little disappointed at not seeing many waterfowl. And then a splash of yellow on the ground caught my eye, a blob of Witch’s butter (Tremella mesenterica) on a small fallen branch. But, even better than the butter, my eye was drawn to this fabulous cluster of Common bird’s nest fungi (Crucibulum laeve), a species that’s more common than you might think but very easily overlooked because of its small size.

I’ve blogged about these fungi before (Bird’s-nests with eggs!, August 2017) – click on the link to see better photos, taken in dry weather, when the details of the nests and their eggs can be more clearly seen. And check out tomorrow’s post for some even more amazing fungi, lurking right next to these bird’s nests.

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • The chocolate butterfly July 5, 2022
  • Leafmines: Liriomyza eupatorii July 4, 2022
  • Oxeyes and friends July 3, 2022
  • Picture-winged flies on Burdock July 2, 2022
  • A darling darter July 1, 2022

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Click on the category

'Dedicated Naturalist' Project 365DaysWildin2019 amphibian animals autumn birds coastal fauna flowers fungi geology insects ladybird leaves lichen mammal molluscs nature nature photography parks plants reptiles seaside seasons spiders spring trees walks weather wildflowers winter

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • earthstar
    • Join 567 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: