Herefordshire Fungus Survey Group o News Sheet N 22: Autumn2011 Pluteus hispidulus – Lady’s Coppice (27/7/2011) Contents Caption Competition Page 2 Recorder’s Report, January - August 2011 Page 3 Busy Lizzie Plague hits Borders Page 5 Gardening for Rusts Page 6 Look out for Lesser Known Relatives! Page 9 Fungal Fragments Page 10 The Enjoyment of Fungi, Victorian Style Page 11 The contents of this newsletter are the copyright property of the Herefordshire Fungus Survey Group. Please do not reproduce material from this publication without prior permission from the Editor. Thank you. Roger discusses Plasmopara obducens, the cause of the President: Ted Blackwell Busy Lizzie downy mildew and of some concern to the UK horticultural industry whilst, in contrast, Debbie enthuses about rusts on our garden plants. Never let it be said that Recorder: Jo Weightman your News Sheet does not give a balanced picture! WelcomeChairman: to the Autumn 2011 Roger News SheetEvans – at last! Ted has continued to delve into the Transactions of the Firstly, as I said at the AGM, my apologies for this Woolhope Field Naturalists Club and has used snippets of issueSecretary: being so late. However, Mike I hope Stroud that it will have these to give us a picture of how the members ‘enjoyed’ been well worth waiting for: our contributors have, as fungi in the early days of foraying. We are indebted to always,Treasurer: come up trumps (on time!)Margaret - many Hawkins thanks to Peter & Christine Thwaites for allowing us to use some of all of them. Peter’s lovely illustrations of fungi as a background to the As you will see from the Jo’s ‘Recorder’s Report’, there text (although, unfortunately, they are not all mentioned in have been two finds of particular interest jn Herefordshire the article). He is well-known for his paintings of fungi during the period covered: and has illustrated several of the BMS publications. the first British collection of Coltricia cinnamomea, found by Susan Hunter on the Barnett Wood foray Two points of general information: and identified by Dr. Martyn Ainsworth at Kew. We I shall shortly be updating the Index to our News are very grateful to him for allowing us to use his Sheets. This covers all the issues since it started in photographs of this specimen (see page 3). 1999 and will include references to over 1300 the first County record of Clathrus archeri, on species. If you are not already on the circulation list Brockhampton Estate, collected by James Clay and and would like to be, please do let me know. determined by Sheila Spence. We are very grateful Don’t forget that the Editor is always looking for your to him also for allowing us to use his photographs of contribution(s) to the News Sheet and the deadline for th this specimen (see pages 4 & 9). the next (Spring 2012) issue is February 20 . I shall do my best to send it out it more expeditiously, but it In addition, Jo has again treated us to another of her does help if you can send me your articles, photos, entertaining and educational articles on some uncommon etc. as far as possible in advance of the deadline! relatives of well known species – prophetically including, but written before the Clathrus archeri was found at Happy reading! Brockhampton. Mike Stroud e-mail: [email protected] CAPTION COMPETITION (Suggestions to the Editor by Feb. 20th, please) Page 2 RECORDER`S REPORT FOR 2011 UP TO AUGUST 31ST Most meetings so far have been dogged by the dry condition of the ground, the summer rains seeming to soak through or evaporate rapidly, leaving our woodlands crunchy and dusty. Nonetheless a pleasing total of 287 species has been recorded, including 149 new site records and 7 new vice county records. Following the meetings reports is a sample of records made at other times by members. Once again, I am appealing to everyone to send me a note of the fungi they see in the county, no matter how humdrum. Queenswood Arboretum SO 506514 30.03.2011 The ‘fur’ was no more than mycelium and not a helpful 58 records. There was a pleasing number of new site feature. We are very grateful to Dr Ainsworth, not only for records (13), given that this location has been forayed his diagnosis and the many hours spent working on this over since the 1840’s. An arboretum is bound to throw up collection, but also for permission to print his photograph interesting associations – this visit yielded Ganoderma of this exciting find. applanatum on the Southern Beech, Nothofagus dombeyi and Daedaleopsis confragosa on a Magnolia. The Little Doward SO533163 11.05.2011 ascomycete Chaetosphaeria callimorpha, which has Rather dry. 37 records. Nearly all were new site records, shining black perithecia nestling in black hairy colonies, is so a useful gap-filling spring visit: notables among them a new vice-county record. Two species associated with included Pyrenopeziza petiolaris on dead Sycamore wood anemone were recorded – the brown goblet of petioles and Haglundia elegantior, a grey disco with dense Dumontinia tuberosa and the rust Tranzchelia anemones. pale hairs on the underside. Barnett Wood SO399676 20.04.2011 5 mm Dry conditions. 37 records. Conifer plantation and relict broad-leaf woodland. The most interesting ascos were Diaporthe strumella, a pyrenomycete occurring on dead currant stems, wild gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa in this instance and the Apomelasmia state of Diaporthopsis urticae on dead nettle stems. A number of spring rusts and slime moulds were recorded - all common, but several were nonetheless new site records. A collection on dead bracken of the nationally rare Coelomycete Pycnothyrium litiginosum by our President Ted Blackwell is now deposited in the Herbarium at Kew. Susan Hunter found a number of very dry but curious thin-capped, stalked and pored fungi, much swathed in gingery ’fur’, nestling beneath a fallen branch. This was identified by Dr Martyn Ainsworth at Kew as Coltricia cinnamomea and occasioned a review of the (few) packets under this label in the herbarium. All proved to be misidentifications of the relatively common Coltricia perennis, making this the first British collection of a species widespread on the continent. When fresh, C. cinnamomea has a more silky surface than Haglundia elegantior – Little Doward (11/5/11) its common cousin, but microscopic examination is necessary as spore size and the nature of the tips of the Suillus grevilliae made a surprise cuticular hyphae are critical diagnostic characters. early appearance. Two separate collections were made of the litter/debris species Hydropus subalpinus. This was the third County record for a nationally rare species and has been deposited in the herbarium at Kew. Endophyllum euphorbiae- sylvaticae III was also collected. It is a nationally rare rust occurring on wood spurge Euphorbia amygdaloides. Croft Castle: Fishpool Valley SO451655 01.06.2011 40 records, most, understandably given the time of year, were of ascos and other very small species - notably the var. fagicola of Lachnum fuscescens, Coltricia cinnamomea – Barnett Wood (24/4/11) (Photographs by Dr. Martyn Ainsworth) Page 3 the black dots of Mycosphaerella rhododendri on Mitrophora semilibera in a garden at Bodenham Moor, rhododendron leaves and the powdery mildew, Puccinia 20.04.11, Margaret Hawkins difformis on Goosegrass, Galium aparine. The uncommon Hypoxylon intermedium (fraxinophilum) was again Pseudoclitocybe cyathiformis, fresh as a daisy after five collected. A few agarics were recorded, even Mycena weeks under snow, Bircher Common 2.1.11, Jo acicula sheltering under litter and Pluteus cervinus, Weightman perhaps stirring into life after the genus kept such a low profile last year. Puccinia vincae, grounds of Orleton Village Hall, on Vinca major Ted Blackwell 13.06.2011. K Lady`s Coppice SO452388 27.07.2011 Dry conditions. 29 records. Broad-leaf woodland with Russula curtipes, in beech woodland, Fishpool Valley Jo conifer plantation above. Weightman 04.08.11, K Most records related to the broad-leaved woodland ,where the bramble cover daunted all but the most intrepid. There Steccherinum cf ochraceum, on the underside of a fallen was a thin scattering of early season mycorrhizal species Ulmus glabra 16.06.11 Stapleton Castle, determined by and a nice example, albeit small, of Pluteus hispidulus, a Alick Henrici. pale agaric with a coating of dark hairs (see front cover). The collection of a red-cracking bolete occasioned some Tricholoma orirubens, Haugh Wood north, on wood ants` dismay when it came home that the very familiar name heap (a most unusual habitat); Cherry Greenway Xerocomus chrysenteron is no longer a useful handle. 29.08.2011 X. chrysenteron is now considered to be much less common than previously thought, with flesh that scarcely blues and a distinct association with conifers (possibly 5 mm also with beech). The much more common species that readily flushes deep blue (sometimes slowly) is X. cisalpinus. And, sorry, but it should be Xerocomellus now for both species! Neither of the above has orange dots in the base of the stipe. If you see orange dots, it will be X. engelii or X. rubellus. A spiky mat collected by Seb Calocera furcata – Nether Wood (10/8/11) Bacon from a conifer log was identified by Ted Blackwell as Stilbella byssiseda. It was parasitising a myxomycete, possibly Cribraria argillacea, certainly a Cribraria. 3 mm Nether Wood SO518337 10.08.2011 38 records. Dry conditions. We hugged the valley bottom in the hope of some moist ground but were not, on the whole, rewarded. It was, however, a good day for powdery mildews. The stars of the day were the gelatinous club Calocera furcata and Dasyscyphella crystallina, both County firsts and rare (or under-recorded) everywhere.