Tag Archives: British fungi

Sycamore tarspot

09 Friday Sep 2022

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As the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre has only 400 records of the very easily identifiable Sycamore tarspot (Rhytisma acerinum) in its database, SEWBReC staff have chosen this fungus to be the September species of the month to inspire as many people as possible to find and record this fungus. Using the Welsh records database Aderyn, it’s possible to see where people have recorded Sycamore tarspot and, more importantly for this exercise, where they haven’t. I know this fungus is very common in my local area, yet there are few records.

So, I’m making it my mission during my walks this month to find and record Sycamore tarspot in as many 1-km squares as possible. I got off to a good start on Wednesday, with records logged in four new squares. It will be interesting to see how many more I can get, and to see how many records other people manage to find over the next few weeks. I’m picking the map will change dramatically by 30 September.

220909 sycamore tarspot

The Sulphur polypore

02 Friday Sep 2022

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This lovely old Oak tree was a victim of a storm back in the spring. As it’s in a corner of a local nature reserve, it’s been left for the fungi and insects to enjoy and, eventually, break down. And, when I walked that way on Tuesday, I noticed the fungi have been busy. This is Chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), normally a bright sulphur yellow, hence its alternate name of Sulphur polypore, but well past its best now and looking quite woody. To see a younger version of this fungus, check out my previous post on the topic, Chicken-of-the-woods, September 2021.

220902 chicken of the woods

Humongous fungus

05 Friday Aug 2022

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During Monday’s local meander I was hugely surprised to spot this humongous fungus, though I shouldn’t have been. Dryad’s saddle (Polyporus squamosus) is actually one of the first bracket fungi to appear each year, often sprouting its saddle-shaped ledges during the summer months when you’d least expect fungi to appear. This one was in a shady woodland, in an area less affected by the scorching sun that’s parched much of the land around here, so it was certainly a much more fungi-friendly location.

220805 dryads saddle

Bird’s-nests revisited

11 Friday Feb 2022

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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

Shooting stars

14 Friday Jan 2022

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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.

Common bird’s nests

13 Thursday Jan 2022

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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.