L F S G Newsletter No. 24 Spring 2007 33333333333333 Recording the Fungi of Leicestershire & Rutland Page - 1 - LEICESTERSHIRE FUNGI STUDY GROUP Committee 2007 Chairman Richard Iliffe Tel: 01455 612769 17 Island Close Hinckley Leicester LE10 1LN Treasurer Anne Preston Tel: 01664 424887 7 Brookside Rearsby Leicester LE7 4YB Librabrian Dr Antony Fletcher Tel: 01509 815514 117 Sycamore Way (daytime) Littlethorpe Leicester LE9 5HW Recorder Dr Tom Hering Tel: 01509 672664 33 Langley Drive (daytime) Kegworth Derby DE74 2DN Secretary Alison Joyce Tel: 07957 457061 113 Darklands Road Swadlincote Derby DE11 0PQ Editor Robert Joyce Tel: 0781 7920030 113 Darklands Road Swadlincote Derby DE11 0PQ Committee Members Roger Rixon Tel: 0116 265 6416 2 South Avenue (daytime) Wigston Leicester LE18 2ES Ann Pinnock Tel: 0116 2866223 7 Carlton Avenue Narborough Leicester LE19 2DE Dr Peter Long Tel: 0116 235 1062 The Flat 242 Astill Lodge Road Leicester LE4 1EF CONTENTS Chairman’s Notes – Archives & Ambitions 3 Why No Newsletters? 4 Collecting Fungi 5 Important Fungal Records from Forays in 2004/5 7 2004/5 Records from New Lount Reserve 8 One Species or More Then One? 9 Uncommon Rust Records 10 Chemicals & Equipement for Examining Fungi 11 Foray Notes:Launde –Park Woods 2006 (Editors Notes) 12 Key to Club & Coral Fungi 13 Photographs 14 FRONT COVER: Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus) © Rob Joyce Page - 2 - Chairman’s Notes - Archives and Ambitions Our correspondence and record files are becoming increasingly bulky. I have one completely full draw in an old metal filing cabinet and I am sorting the papers so that the more interesting ones can be passed to the Museum. They are a history of the formation of our Group and should be kept as part of an enduring archive. This sorting of papers should be a straightforward, though rather tedious task. In fact it is very difficult to make any progress. Every file opened leads to lengthy spells of reading! To one who was present at the inaugural meeting in October 1980 at the New Walk Museum there are so many memories of the long discussions that took place to ensure that we got everything right, the early forays, protocols for collecting and recording, and setting up a committee and a constitution. Above all, however, it is memories of the people involved that come flooding back. We had a membership of twenty-two at the start of our first year, eleven of whom are still members. We must have been doing something right to have encouraged such long-term loyalty! It is interesting to read all the early letters, particularly those written by our first chairman, Chris Scotter. His energy and enthusiasm are revealed in the correspondence and minutes, and a number of us were first introduced to fungi at evening classes that Chris tutored in Wigston and Hinckley in 1978-9. It is not an over- statement to say that the Group would never have happened without him. Another name that appears regularly in the old minutes is that of Tony Fletcher, who was instrumental in setting up our collecting and recording procedures, encouraging us to collect and describe specimens carefully and to retain voucher specimens, right from our earliest days. Happily he continues to encourage us and now supervises our significant herbarium collection at Barrow on Soar. Our long-time Recorder, Tom Hering was not involved in the running the Group in its early years but in November 1980, with Chris Scotter, he lectured to us at a Leicester University study weekend at Vaughan College on the biology of fungi, and on methods of collecting and recording. These lectures were attended by most of those who went on to form the group. It is worth re-printing the written objectives of our Group when first established: 1. To identify and record fungus species in Leicestershire with the aim of publishing a fungus flora of the county in due course. 2. To establish a regular programme of meetings relating broadly to mycology, and hold practical study meetings and forays to advance our knowledge of the fungi. 3. To establish a Leicestershire fungus herbarium and records centre. 4. To purchase key fungus works to provide a library which would be available to members on a loan system. In early 1981 we were granted affiliation to the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society and this established our long term links to Leicester City Museums Service. Later, in 1996, we became affiliated to the British Mycological Society and in the same year we were one of the groups that supported the formation of the Association of British Fungus Groups. All these memories prompt the question – where do we go from here? It is easy to just enjoy what we do, organising a sociable series of walks and meetings, and forgetting that we have wider obligations to meet the objectives set out in our constitution, particularly in producing a Leicestershire Flora. The committee will be discussing these issues over the next few months, hoping to set out a programme to tackle the various projects that have been identified. Commitment and hard work will be involved and our members will be invited to help us. We will keep you informed. Richard Iliffe Fungal Fact The Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) is one of the most common known fungi due to it’s striking red with white spotted cap. But why is it called the Fly Agaric? Since medieval times a practice of breaking the cap up and soaking it in milk was used to attract flies, who would drink the tainted mixture and fall unconcious. The latin name is also linked to flies, the word “Musca” literally meaning “Fly” in latin! Page - 3 - Why No Newsletters? There was a time when we circulated a newsletter to know that other Leicestershire records are held in our members every year, but we have let things drift collections at Edinburgh, Cardiff, Kew, and possibly at recently – our last issue was in 2004. One looks for other UK locations, depending on where earlier reasons, or excuses. There is, of course, a lot of mycologists deposited their records, and these need effort involved. Other tasks, like the meetings and to be abstracted and included in our data. foray programme, membership administration and mailings, species identification and recording, and On the plus side, we have made excellent progress preparing foray lists take priority. The newsletter can with recording Leicestershire fungi and we have be postponed. In our early days the newsletter was a submitted over 29,000 records to the national simple affair, comprising a series of foray write-ups, database. These records cover the period between an occasional article and a copy of the autumn 1980 and 2003 - the majority in the latter half of that programme. It is now more demanding as we have period when our skills were better and when we had introduced more features, articles, news items and Tom Hering acting as our recorder and able to keep a occasional illustrations. And our supply of foray write- careful eye on our recording procedures, and on what ups has dried up – it used to be that forays leaders was being submitted. With Tom, Peter Long and would prepare a short report on each walk, with all Tony Fletcher we have been very fortunate to have unusual or interesting finds mentioned. That is a three professional or ex-professional mycologists to practice that we ought to reintroduce – all those enthuse us and offer guidance on collecting, attending a walk like to know what was found. Often microscopy, identification and recording, setting a the most interesting records are identified some time high standard of scientific excellence for the rest of us after the walk has ended, and these should be to aim at. reported back to members. We are also doing well towards creating a herbarium What are we doing about our newsletter? We will try collection. It is good practice to dry and retain to produce at least one issue this year, two if specimens of anything considered to be rare or new sufficient material is forthcoming. During 2007 we to the county, and we are doing this. However, we hope to re-organise and re-invigorate the Group. are short of good quality common species and this is Over the first half of the year we plan to hold a series something that we should look at and remedy. of meetings to agree a programme of work to tackle a number of projects, some quite pressing, and others There are two other interesting projects that we hope that have been a long time in the pipeline but have to start during 2007; the production of a new county been postponed. Below is a progress report and a check-list, and the preparation of a county “red data note of what we would like to achieve. list”. Our present check-list is at least ten years old and our recorded species have since increased from When the Group was formed our stated objectives around 1100 to maybe 1400 or more. A red data list included recording the fungi of Leicestershire. is something we should have tackled earlier, but we Rutland would then have been included but that have been waiting for the issue of a revised national county has, of course, now re-gained independent list. With hindsight perhaps we should not have status, so our target area is better defined as Vice- waited because we need to produce a list of local county 55. A complementary aim was to build up a rarities, and these need not necessarily relate to what herbarium of local species, to be held by Leicester is rare nationally.