Three fungi on Ash keys

12 Friday Jan 2024

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Ash key fungi, British fungi, Diaporthe samaricola, Flagelloscypha minutissima, fungi on Ash keys, Neosetophoma samarorum

When I’ve searched Ash keys (seed pods) previously for fungi, I’ve found the two most common, which are Diaporthe samaricola (the small black dots on the upper, seed portion of the ash key, in the image on the right below) and Neosetophoma samarorum (the much smaller, black speckles on the lower, wing part of the key, in the same image) (see Ash key fungi, January 2021).

During recent checks, however, I found a third fungus, the three all flourishing quite happily side by side on one set of keys. The third fungus is white, slightly woolly and minute, and it might be something like Flagelloscypha minutissima, but without examining it and its spores under a microscope (which I don’t have) I can’t be sure.

Fungi keep fighting back

05 Friday Jan 2024

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British fungi, fungi sprouting from post, Oyster mushrooms

240105 oysters (2) Back in October, I posted about two species of fungi colonising human-built structures, Jelly ear growing on the painted sides of a PortaCabin and an unidentified wood-loving species sprouting from the boardwalk railing at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve (Fungi fight back, 27 October 2023).

During one of my circuits of Cardiff Bay in December, I found another example of fungi fighting back, these lush Oyster mushrooms on a finger post alongside the path to the Bay Barrage.

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E is for earthstar

10 Sunday Dec 2023

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British fungi, collared earthstar, earthstar, fungus, Geastrum triplex

I have never seen as many earthstars as I did during a visit to a Cardiff Cemetery a few weeks ago. There must have been over 50 Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex) growing under the pine trees at the entrance to the cemetery, a location where I’ve never before seen them despite many visits over several years, so it was a very special sight indeed. And as these are the fungi that originally inspired the name of this blog, I felt I had to include them in this end-of-year countdown.

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Snowy disco

01 Friday Dec 2023

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British fungi, Lachnum virgineum, Snowy disco, white cup fungi, white fungi, woodland fungi

Though many parts of Britain are currently revelling in their first snowfalls of the winter, here in my part of south Wales the white of a crisp frost is as close as we’ve got to that beauty and the only snow of note is a fungus, with the very appropriate name of Snowy disco (Lachnum virgineum).

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Though there are other white cup-shaped fungi, this one can be distinguished by the hairiness of its short stem and the underside of the cup. That hairiness is also the reason you often see these tiny cups with miniscule droplets of water attached – the water ‘sticks’ to the hairs. Though these fungi are described as widespread and common, I don’t see them very often and, in fact, I only found these because I was picking up small logs in a woodland to check for any invertebrates beneath them. The Snowy disco was a very nice bonus!

231201 snowy disco (2)

Lumpy brackets

17 Friday Nov 2023

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bracket fungi, British fungi, Lumpy bracket, Trametes gibbosa, white bracket fungus

How to identify Lumpy brackets (Trametes gibbosa) (courtesy of the First Nature website):
– found on most kinds of hardwood trees but most commonly on Beech (these were on Beech)
– the pale upper surface is often discoloured by green algae, particularly away from the edges
– the pores are slot-like, rather than round or oval as found on other whitish Trametes
I found this impressive array of Lumpy brackets on a huge fallen Beech in Cardiff’s Heath Park.

A mess of Hare’s-foot fungi

14 Tuesday Nov 2023

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British fungi, Coprinopsis lagopus, fungi in leaf litter, Hare's-foot, Hare's-foot inkcap, inkcaps, leaf litter

When I take photos of fungi, I often try to tidy up the scene a little first, plucking away stray twigs or flattening with my shoe the grass that’s obscuring the view of the actual fungi. In this particular situation, that was not possible, partly because I couldn’t get any closer to the fungi (which were on private land) and partly because, even if I could’ve moved closer, there was simply too much vegetation to remove without damaging their fragile forms. So, I decided to present these Hare’s-foot inkcaps (Coprinopsis lagopus) as they really were, small and elegant black-and-white parasols partially obscured amidst a colourful mess of small branches and leaf litter. A very autumnal scene.

Purple jelly

10 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi

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Ascocoryne sarcoides, British fungi, purple fungi, Purple Jellydisc

I don’t see Purple jellydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides) very often in my area – not sure why, so it was a lovely surprise to spot it on some felled trees in Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park last week. As the First Nature website explains, this fungus has two stages: the telemorphic stage where the fungus forms cup-like structures in which ascospores are produced and the anamorphic stage that I found in which asexual (cloned) conidia are produced. There is a very similar fungus, Ascocoryne cylichnium, but it only has cup-shaped fruit bodies.

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Cheery yellow

03 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi

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Bisporella citrina, British fungi, cup fungi, Lemon disco, yellow fungi

After the last few grey, wet, windy days of Storm Ciarán, I thought we needed a little sunshine, even if it’s coming from the ground below rather than the sky above. It’s not exactly warming but it certainly made me feel more cheery after days of gloom. These are likely to be Lemon disco fungi (Bisporella citrina), though they really need examination under a microscope to be sure.

231103 lemon disco

Fungi fight back

27 Friday Oct 2023

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British fungi, fungi on fence railing, fungi on wood panels, Jelly ear, Jelly ear on wood panels

These two fungi sightings made me smile because they reminded me that, given half a chance, Nature is very very good at fighting back against destruction by humans by colonising human-made products. The first fungi – little colonies of Jelly ear growing along the top and centre of the wood-panelled sides of a PortaCabin – were a surprise. I usually see Jelly ear on dead or dying Elder trees, and it can grow on other hardwood trees, but painted wood panels? Amazing, really.

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My second sighting, on the same day as the first, was not such a surprise, as the wooden structure of the boardwalk at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve is now quite old and rotting in places. Fungi are very good at taking advantage of these situations.

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Fungi at Cosmeston

20 Friday Oct 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi

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British fungi, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Entoloma incanum, Honey waxcap, Hygrocybe acutoconica, Hygrocybe reidii, Mousepee pinkgill, Persistent waxcap

After a few wet, grey and gusty days being battered by Storm Babet, I thought we could do with some Friday night bright colour so here are some recent fungi finds from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

231020 cosmeston fungi (2)

The fungi above are Persistent waxcap (Hygrocybe acutoconica), the yellow beauties at the top above, and Mousepee pinkgill (Entoloma incanum), the lovely little green mushroom with the wonderful name. And, below, these are all Honey waxcaps (Hygrocybe reidii), in various stages of development.

231020 cosmeston fungi (1)