331/365 Groovy bonnets

27 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

Tags

autumn fungi, Bonnet fungi, British fungi, Grooved bonnet, Mycena fungi, Mycena polygramma

Finally some fungi I can identify with confidence because, as Pat O’Reilly explains on the First Nature website,

Cap colour is rarely of much help when you are struggling to identify a Mycena, as they vary so much with age, location, humidity and growing substrate. If you look closely at the stem of a Grooved Bonnet you will see that it has longitudinal striations, whereas other common bonnet mushrooms have smooth stems.

So, the striated stems you can, hopefully, see in my second photo below prove that these lovely little bonnets I found growing in a tree in the grounds of a local church are … taaa daaa! … Grooved bonnets (Mycena polygramma).

322/365 Tripe

18 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, trees

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Auricularia mesenterica, British fungi, fungi on Elm trees, Tripe, Tripe fungi, Tripe fungus

I’m sure you’ll be relieved to read that, despite its title, this blog has nothing to do with cow intestines. Rather, this is about a fungus, Tripe fungus (Auricularia mesenterica), not the loveliest of fungi but still an interesting find as it’s usually found growing on Elm trees. And Elms are few and far between following their devastation by Dutch Elm disease.

191118 tripe fungus (1)

I found these Tripe on a dead tree in Cogan Wood at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park this morning, in an area where I’ve previously found other fungi specific to Elm trees, so there were obviously several growing there in past days.

191118 tripe fungus (2) 191118 tripe fungus (3)

314/365 Toothed and crusty

10 Sunday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British fungi, crust fungi, fungus, Toothed crust, toothed fungi, toothed fungus

Crust fungi are notoriously difficult to identify and I’m not at all sure which this is, though one possibility is Toothed crust (Basidioradulum radula). Despite my uncertainty I thought I would share some photos as its shape and form are wonderfully sculptural and more than a little beautiful, I feel.

Toothed crust Forest Farm 191108 (3)

287/365 Hygrocybe, but which

14 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

autumn colour, autumn fungi, British fungi, fungus, Hygrocybe, waxcap fungi, waxcaps

191014 hygrocybe (1)

Waxcaps are my favourite fungi but they can be difficult to identify. Sometimes the colour helps, but there are several species of a reddish-orange hue. As these have quite a coarse upper surface on the caps, I thought at first that they might be Fibrous waxcaps (Hygrocybe intermedia) but, as these were at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, I’m wondering if they might be Hygrocybe calciphilia, which are smaller and grow on calcareous grassland. I really need to check their features more thoroughly in future. What I do know for sure is how lovely they are!

191014 hygrocybe (2)

285/365 Mousepee pinkgill

12 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

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autumn fungi, British fungi, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Entoloma incanum, fungus, Mousepee pinkgill

What’s in a name? That which we call a Mousepee pinkgill
By any other name would still smell like mouse pee!
(with apologies to William Shakespeare)

191012 mousepee pinkgill (2)

Truth be known, I have no idea what mouse pee smells like (and these fungi had been rained on for several days so the smell may well have dissipated) but I’m fairly sure that is what these fungi are. The greenish stem is a bit of a giveaway, and these are definitely not Parrot waxcaps, which are the only other green-stemmed fungi I know (though that, in itself, doesn’t mean there aren’t others).

191012 mousepee pinkgill (1)

You can read up on the Mousepee pinkgill (Entoloma incanum) on the most excellent First Nature website here.

191012 mousepee pinkgill (5)

278/365 Happy National Fungi Day!

05 Saturday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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#NationalFungiDay, bracket fungi, British fungi, Candlesnuff, fungus, National Fungi Day, oysterling fungi, Stump puffballs, Sulphur tuft, waxcaps

As today was National Fungi Day in Britain and we’ve had good quantities of the rain needed to stimulate fungal growth, I caught the train in to Cardiff today for a fungi foray around Heath Park and the new part of Cathays Cemetery. Here are some of the fungi I found …

272/365 A polypore

29 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, nature

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British fungi, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dryad's saddle, polypore fungus, Polyporus squamosus

Sadly, between one visit to Cosmeston and the next this spectacular fungus had almost been obliterated.

190929 polypore (1)

I think it’s a specimen of Polyporus squamosus, also known as Dryad’s saddle, which can grow to 60cm across, usually on the wood of deciduous trees, sometimes singly, occasionally in limited layers.

190929 polypore (2)

This one had been munched on top, probably by a slug or snail, but I imagine its downfall came at human hands, or feet, as it was growing in an area of woodland that is often frequented by children. A shame, as I was looking forward to following its growth.

Nibbled area top left

70/365 Like orange teardrops

11 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature

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British fungi, Common jellyspot, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dacrymyces stillatus, jellyspot fungus, orange jellyspot

According to Pat O’Reilly’s brilliant First Nature website, the scientific name for Common jellyspot, which is Dacrymyces stillatus, is ‘named from Dacry- meaning a tear (as in weeping) and –myces meaning fungus, while the specific epithet stillatus means poured or dripped. Hence Dacrymyces stillatus means teardrop-like fungi that look as though they have dripped on to the substrate.’ In this particular case the substrate is a series of fence posts at Cosmeston, where I’ve seen this jellyspot growing for several months now.

50/365 Conifer mazegill

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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#365DaysWild, British fungi, Conifer mazegill, fungi on conifers, Gloeophyllum sepiarium, mazegill fungi

I first found this fungus last week and went back today to get more photos. It had me flummoxed at first – it looked mazegill-ish but is growing on a handrail so I couldn’t identify the wood and couldn’t match the fungus to anything in my books. Fortunately, there are some extremely knowledgeable fungi experts around who are generous with their assistance and one in particular, Andy Overall, was able to identify this from my photos.

190219 conifer mazegill (3)

This is Conifer mazegill – its scientific name is a bit of a mouthful, Gloeophyllum sepiarium – and it’s a wood-rotter, feasting, as the name implies, on the dead wood of conifers.

190219 conifer mazegill (2)

The examples I’ve found are very young and don’t look anything like the stiff brackets they will grow in to, though the Mushroom Expert website has one image of this early stage, and a lot more information if you’re interested.

190219 conifer mazegill (1)

45/365 Sweet heart

14 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature

≈ 6 Comments

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#365DaysWild, British fungi, elfcup fungi, red elfcup, Scarlet elfcup

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

To be honest, I’m not one to get excited about days like today – too much commercial hype and money wasted on needless rubbish. But, when I spotted this almost-heart-shaped Scarlet elfcup, I thought I would at least share a little love for Nature from Nature.