Newsletter Spring 2013
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
1 Shropshire Fungus Group Newsletter SPRING 2013 NUMBER 12 Contents 1 Foray Reports 6 Beechwood Shuffle - Rob Rowe 7 A Brief History of the Fungus - Roy Mantle 10 Charlotte’s Gallery 11 Why Use a Microscope - Les Hughes 12 Reports from Microscope Day - Various 14 Images of the Beefsteak Fungus - Justin & Erin 15 Interesting Websites. 16 Pictures from Mike Middleton 17 Pictures from John Newnham 18 Fixture List for 2013 ForayReports Foray to Severn Valley Country Park 21 April 2012 Shropshire was officially in drought. March had been very dry but a week of April showers had soaked the ground. Seven of us set out on a beautiful sunny morning hoping that the recent rains had been sufficient to bring forth hordes of fungi. As it turned out there were not exactly hordes but 23 species was a good tally. The first find was the edible St George’s Mushroom Calocybe gambosa so called because it fruits around St George’s Day, the 23rd of April. As John remarked, “it was a couple of days early” but it was near enough for us. We moved down and over the miners’ bridge where we found a few small Scarlet Elf Cups Sarcoscypha austriaca in an area where the woodland had been clear felled and also in this area the Thimble Morel Verpa conica was found. This is an Sarcoscypha austriaca ©R. Mantle uncommon fungus but one that had been found here before down by the river under the hawthorn bushes. We followed the path up to the Country Park Halt on the Severn Valley Railway and then turned down to the river. Coming back towards the Visitor Centre the sharp eyes of John and Denise spotted a few specimens of the Vinegar Cup Helvella acetabulum (formerly Paxina acetabulum) hiding amongst the dead leaves at the side of the path. Vinegar consists of mainly acetic acid and the Romans called the vessel holding the vinegar Amanita crocea © Roy Mantle Verpa conica © R. Mantle 2 an acetabulum and this name was also given to vessels of a similar shape hence the name of this fungus. In the afternoon the rain came as we went across the meadows and down into Hallclose Coppice. Russell found a couple of nice Mosaic Puffballs Lycoperdon utriformis (formerly Handkea utriformis) in the far meadow and Kate found more Vinegar Cups Helvella acetabulum at the side of the path on the way back to the cars. Helvella acetabulum © R. Mantle Dudmaston Foray Sunday 6th May 2012 A small, but select group of us gathered at the usual place on the Dumaston Estate, six in all. We set off for the morning session into Comer Wood, finding fungi few in numbers, but overall interesting in variety. The highlight of the morning however, has to be given to the swans on the pond, carrying their young on their backs, in an attempt to provide the cutest wildlife photo of the year. A winner so far. The new idea of bringing specimens back and setting them out for discussion was a limited success, as there were few of us, and few fungi to look at. Nevertheless, it was worth doing, and we shall continue it, until Roy can no longer lift the trug. After lunch we visited three different ecosystems as we made our way around the lake to the dingle. The grassland around the lake offered a good few species, the best being Calocybe carnea, found by Judith, and Stropharia coronilla, found by Martin, and both (smugly) identified by Roy. The dingle proved to be something of a disappointment, in view of all the recent rain. As usual some species offered themselves repeatedly. Today it was Clitocybe fragrans which seemed to be everywhere. There © L. Hughes was a Panaeolus in quantity also, sadly never identified. The other notable find was Judith’s first ever St George’s, which seemed to disappear into a convenient paper bag. They seem to be having a good season. In Comer Wood we found the slime mould Lycogala terrestre (Wolfs Milk) on a rotting tree trunk also some young Xylaria possibly X. polymorpha. See picture The full list of species found and identified is set out on the website. As usual it was the brackets and resupinates which offered greatest resistance to identification. Nothing startling appeared, although some things did seem to be showing earlier than expected. Lycogala terrestre & Xylaria sp. © R. Mantle Granville Country Park 2nd September By this time some new members had joined and a fair number of us forayed amongst the birch scrub now colonising the old spoil heaps. We found a reasonable number (18) of species including the Birch specialists Leccinum scabrum the Brown Birch Bolete, L. versipelle the Orange Birch Bolete and Paxillus involutus the Brown Rollrim. Also found on a burnt Gorse bush was Daldinia fissa. This is a close relative of D. concentrica King Alfred’s Cakes/Cramp Balls which grows mainly on Ash. A nearby Birch tree had been scorched by the fire and also had D. fissa fruiting on it. The afternoon was spent foraying on the other side of the Daldinia fissa © R. Mantle 3 road amongst grassland and deciduous woodland. Pickings were sparse here but all was made good when we found a beautiful group of Geastrum triplex the Collared Earthstar. There were a number of fruitbodies in different stages. On a fencing rail was Gloeophyllum sepiarium the Conifer Mazegill; apparently the use of this type of fencing has caused an increase in the population of this attractively coloured species. On the way back to the cars we found the lovely coloured but bad smelling Tricholoma sulphureum the Sulphur Knight. This fungus smells of coal gas. Haughmond Hill 22nd September More new members had joined and 15 of us set out from the main car park to foray in mixed woodland on the hill. Almost immediately we came across Pholiota gummosa the Sticky Scalycap. This is an occasional species which is usually found in debris at the sides of paths. Agaricus augustus The Prince was also found at the side of the path. This is a large and distinctive species which I am told is good to eat. It does look too good to eat though. There were also some impressive groups of Daedaleopsis confragosa the Blushing Bracket on dead Goat Willow. Not so rare but equally attractive in their own way. We were also treated to a sniff of aniseed from Clitocybe odora the Aniseed Funnel. We moved venue in the afternoon to foray in Abbey Woods about half a mile away. Here we found some wonderful specimens of Agaricus augustus © M. Middleton Amanita phalloides the Death Cap and close by were some perfect fruitbodies of Amanita citrina the False Deathcap. Also in this area were some lovely pink specimens of Mycena rosea the Rosy Bonnet. Deadaleopsis confragosa © M. Middleton Amanita phalloides© R. Mantle Mycena rosea © R. Mantle 4 Corbet Wood 6th October Corbet Wood is located at Grinshill, to the west of the A49 a few miles north of Shrewsbury. The area consists of an old sandstone quarry which has revegetated back to nature. There are some mature stands of Scots Pine, semi-mature Beech plantings, mixed with areas of Willow/Oak/Sycamore and Holly species forming secondary woodland. The weather on the day was sunny and fine. 4 members shared in an interesting foray. The morning session involved a short walk through mature pine trees, where we found Amanita citrina, smelling slightly of raw potatoes, and not far away was Scleroderma verrucosum, with its distinctive ribbed rooting base. We then dropped down the slope away from the footpath to scan the woodland floor. What an amazing sight! – We had stumbled across a very large flush of Geastrum triplex (Collared Earthstar) ranging from small unopened ‘eggs’ through to mature fully opened specimens about the size of tennis balls and all sizes in between. These were all associated with a single mature Holly tree. After standing in awe for a long while and taking photographs we ambled on a little farther, only to stumble across about half a dozen smaller flushes, all growing under Holly! We returned to the cars at lunch time and continued foraying in a different part of the old quarry, accessed along an original sunken pathway. Our afternoon was spent in a damper part of the wood. We came across Lentinellus cochleatus with its lovely aniseed smell. Conocybe arrhenia was growing along the side of a muddy pathway. This species of Conocybe has a ring on the stem which aids identification. Close by we also found Mycena pelianthina (similar to M. pura but with a dark edge to the gills) as well as M. rosea. 39 species were recorded during our visit. Amanita citrina © R. Mantle Dudmaston Estate 13th Oct This is a place which we usually foray each year and we followed the usual format of going into Comer Wood in the morning. Here we found plenty to delight us including Paxillus atromentosus (sadly no English name that I am aware of but it does have a new scientific name Tapinella atromentosa). There was also a large and resplendent fruitbody of Dyer’s Mazegill Phaeolus schweinitzii. This is an interesting fungus that is a pathogen of conifers, causing brown rot in the roots and the base of the trunk. Brown rot occurs when the cellulose is eaten by the fungus leaving the lignin behind. Cellulose is the “glue” that holds the cells together and so the wood loses strength very quickly. The fungus can be used to produce dyes for dying wool.