More woodland rusts

15 Friday Apr 2022

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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.

Woodland rusts

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

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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.

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)

Nettle rust

04 Friday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

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Nettle rust, Puccinia urticata, rust, rust fungi, rust on plants, Stinging nettle

It’s Fungi Friday and, though this time of year is not what I usually think of as prime fungi time, fungi are always with us, around us, underneath our feet, in the air we breathe, and I did find some prime examples earlier this week.

210604 nettle rust (1)

The vibrant yellow-orange-red patches on these Stinging nettles are Nettle rust (Puccinia urticata), and there were a lot of them.

210604 nettle rust (2)

As you can imagine, they were not easy to photograph, particularly as the plants were swaying slightly in the gentle breeze.

210604 nettle rust (3)

Fortunately, I spotted a patch of Dock nearby and used a leaf of that to shield my fingers while I held the plants steady.

210604 nettle rust (4)

Bluebell rust

05 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in nature

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Bluebell rust, Bluebells, rust fungi, rust on Bluebells, rust on plants, Uromyces muscari

Now that the lush leaves of Bluebells are poking their fleshy heads above the soil, it’s time to check for Bluebell rust (Uromyces muscari), which can be found on native, cultivated and hybrid Bluebells.

210205 bluebell rust (2)

I’ve been looking during my recent local exercise walks but have found most of the locals are rust-less, except in one location, which is where I found these examples.

210205 bluebell rust (3)

This rust won’t affect the flowers, of course, and, as far as I’m aware, it doesn’t affect the health of the plant. In fact, most people won’t even notice it’s there but now you know about it, you might.

210205 bluebell rust (1)

Winter rusts

15 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants

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British fungi, Melampsora euphorbiae, Puccinia lagenophorae, Puccinia smyrnii, rust, rust fungi, rust on Alexanders, rust on Groundsel, rust on Petty spurge, rust on plants

It may be the middle of winter – and chilly with it – but rust fungi can still be found, thriving on those plants that survive these cold temperatures. I’ve found these three in the past week, and I’m sure there must be more around. The good thing about rust fungi is that they generally only infect one species of plant so they’re easier than most fungi to identify – and that’s got to be good thing!

210115 Melampsora euphorbiae

Melampsora euphorbiae on Petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus)

210115 Puccinia lagenophorae

Puccinia lagenophorae on Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

210115 Puccinia smyrnii

Puccinia smyrnii on Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum)

72/365 Alexanders rust

13 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature, plants

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Alexanders, Alexanders plants, Alexanders rust, Puccinia smyrnii, rust, rust fungi, Smyrnium olusatrum

190313 alexanders rust

We had such a mild winter this year that the Alexanders plants (Smyrnium olusatrum) that grow well along the coastal path from Penarth to Lavernock only died down for a few short weeks, then their vibrant green once again began to appear and grow up at their usual rapid pace. And with the leaves almost immediately came the rust that loves these plants, Alexanders rust (Puccinia smyrnii). It is obviously immune to bad weather, as it has continued to flourish right through the occasional frosts and heavy downpours that were about the worst weather winter produced this year.

Fungi foray: Merthyr Mawr

08 Monday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, parks, spring, walks

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Daedaleopsis confragosa, fungi enthusiasts, fungi foray, Glamorgan Fungus Group, Kuehneola uredinis, Melampsora epita var epitea, Melampsora populnea, Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve, Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, Mollisia, Phellinus hippophaeicola, Phylloporia ribis, rust fungi, Synchytrium taraxaci

Saturday dawned fine and mostly sunny, good news for most but not such good news for fungi enthusiasts, who are already bemoaning the recent lack of rain. Still, keen-eyed fungi fans can always find something and our Glamorgan Fungus Group has some of the keenest in ‘Eagle-eyes’ Emma. Though we were just a small group of six and a half, we enjoyed a splendid day searching the woodland areas of Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve, and our limited numbers were, in fact, a bonus, as we had amongst us the county recorder for Orthoptera (grasshoppers and related insects) and an experienced botanist, so we were able to enjoy, discuss and identify a broad range of flora and fauna. As expected, our fungi finds were limited but we finished the day with a very respectable total of 21 species and had a great time along the way.

Here are some of our finds: the rust Melampsora populnea on Dog’s mercury; another rust Kuehneola uredinis, on Bramble; Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, a smut that occurs on the anthers of Red campion flowers; another rust Melampsora epita var. epitea on Spindle; fungi enthusiasts inspecting the one group of cap fungi (‘real mushrooms’) found this day; the ‘real mushrooms’ that must remain unidentified as they were much eaten and turning gloopy; likely one of the Mollisia species of Disco fungi; Phellinus hippophaeicola on Sea buckthorn; Phylloporia ribis on Spindle; a rather old and faded Blushing bracket Daedaleopsis confragosa; a Puccinia species of rust on Common ragwort – this needs microscope work to positively ID; and the pimple-like growths of Dandelion wart Synchytrium taraxaci on one of the gazillions of Dandelion species, so Taraxacum officinale agg.

170508 (1) Melampsora populnea on Dog's mercury

170508 (2) Kuehneola uredinis on Bramble

170508 (3) Microbotryum silenes-dioicae Smut on Red campion

170508 (4) Melampsora epita var epitea on Spindle

170508 (8) Phellinus hippophaeicola on Sea buckthorn

170508 (10) Daedaleopsis confragosa Blushing bracket

170508 (11) Puccinia sp on Common ragwort

170508 (12) Synchytrium taraxaci on Taraxacum officinale agg

Fungi Friday: The rust challenge

28 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, wildflowers

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Bluebell, citizen science, Glamorgan Fungus Group, Lesser Celandine, Nettle, Puccinia urtica, rust, rust fungi, Uromyces dactylis, Uromyces muscari

Back in January I posted about the Cobalt crust-finding challenge I was taking part in with my friends from the Glamorgan Fungus Group. This month we’ve been at it again but our challenge species are rusts, specifically Uromyces dactylis (below right) and Uromyces ficaria which are both found on Lesser Celandine; Puccinia urtica (below left) on Nettles; Uromyces muscari (the other four photos) on native, cultivated and hybrid Bluebells; and on Nipplewort Lapsana communis.

170428 Uromyces dactylis on Lesser celandine

Though finding and photographing the Nettle rust is more for the masochist than the faint-hearted – our group has joked about buying thick rubber gloves up to our elbows(!), the other rusts are less dangerous though no less of a challenge. I’ve had most success with the Bluebell rust – probably a reflection of the fact that everyone loves Bluebells so they’ve been planted almost everywhere, but have found only one specimen of one of the rusts on Lesser Celandine, despite the flowers being very plentiful and numerous in my local parks and wild areas. And I have yet to find a specimen of Nipplewort rust – probably because I have yet to positively identify Nipplewort (this is why I’ve taken up a botany menteeship!).

Still, just as we did with Cobalt crust, our group members have thrown themselves into this challenge and, to date, our combined total stands at over 140 separate finds. And, just like last time, our finds are being fed into our local biodiversity database so our challenge is helping to increase the knowledge base for these under-recorded fungi. Citizen science rocks!

170428 Uromyces muscari on bluebell (4)