Tony Croft aka hamadryad

It looks fantastic, very clean simple and self explanetery, you may find it limiting if you diversify later but if your garden maintenance your onto a winner.

Lovely shots of Flammulina velutipes, the dark backdrop sets em off really well.

Well, after making so many stupid spelling mistakes and a couple of miss labels on my other thread as promised starting a new one. A couple of Arbtalkers wanted more info, common names and such, so thought I would start over and do this justice. I am learning as we go also, so forgive me if I have missed something out, and feel free to point things out, as despite some of the comments recieved I am a novice, I am working on changing that though! Fungi have consumed me with a passion, it is a highly infectious subject, you have been warned! I think I may have stood still under a veteran Oak just long enough for the mycelium to creep up my leg, and now I am colonised by a fine rot, and I hope to spread the "infection" far and wide. I've called this my fungal diary as I will be adding the fungi as and when I shoot them, rather than just enter a whole load from my vaults. I think in this way you will get to know whats out there and when to find them or look out for them, despite common belief, autumn is not the only time for fungi. There is always something to be found and todays find is Flammulina velutipes AKA the velvet shank or somewhat more appropriate "the winter mushroom" Enjoy Flammulina velutipes (The velvet shank/winter mushroom) A small to medium sized mushroom, orange to brown cap with pale orange/cream gills. Spore print white/cream. Saprophytic on Horse chestnut and Elm and occasionaly on other broadleaf genera, appearing in small groups to numerous clumps on stems. Common, fruiting from October to March. Its significance is not note worthy being a saprophytic fungus. Tommorow me and Buff will be foraying in the mighty Ashridge park estate, i wonder what we will find?

Cool, i love finding out I have yet another to find! So many fungi out there, thats why I love it, theres just so much to learn and find, and one of the few things you can do that is still largely an unkown quantity. I must get this collins one everyone seems to have! I searched out one of rayners but it was going for 350 plus! so collins will have to suffice for now! I need a book fix as havent bought one for ages!

The tre with the corky flutes on its twigs looks like a young styraciflua to me too! Liquid amber, lovely trees, and the rival (co dominant) stems are another giveaway of the species.

Dont know so much that his is a paler form, just at different stages perhaps, it does go through various depths and tones as it emerges matures then blackens, does andy say there is a paler form? So it seems, as I would suspect they are all parasites on various Stereums or peniophoras, i wonder if the crystal brain is the same? cant wait to find one!

That looks like a great little read, cool post, thanks.

Due to requests for certain things and a lot of spelling mistakes and Reaction zone labbeled as barrier zone i am going to resart this as a new thread and start over with a clean slate no mistakes and both latin and all common names known. I will also add some other info from what I know and from my book list! all referenced properly of course! I never knew there was so many fungi fiends amoung the arbs, so I will take this a little more seriously from now on and do it right!

I asume its a back garden job and not in a position it could be allowed to die with dignity? not that there is much dignity in being eaten alive! If its honey, mellea, it would be advisable to grind out as much stump and root as poss too, remove the food supply and base camp for the fungi to explore further.

Yes basicaly! I have a few beech logs outside myself, got a lovely crop of oysters twice now, think its over now though, time for new wood. If your into this one get a book by paul stamets growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, wicked stuff, hoping to grow myself a monkies head soon!

Do you mean the paler form of tremella or Exidia? If tremella no, been looking for the crystal brain but never found one, got all the others just waiting to complete the set! If you want Foliacea keep your eyes open on beech and hazel, seems to love those two substrates

Nice ones monkey. just been looking at the shots we talked about before on the start of this page, seeing the size and shape in better context Im well convinced you have T lutescens, being solitary, and a bit bog for exidia, also overly clear, even though the books say T lutescens is whitish! How about this one fella, The leafy brain Tremella foliacea:thumbup1:

I wouldnt hold much hope for this tree, despite the root grown compenastion, that decay killer combo of Ganoderma Australe and what looks like Armillaria Sp spells no end of problems for the tree. It looks like the ganoderma is fruiting out of an old scar, probaly fire or possibly an old limb tearing out and tsaking a strip of bark with it. There is also a lot of root damage, iether mowers or mammalian. You cant make a judgment based on photos, theres no canopy present, but its pretty certain that this is a fell situation.

yep same as the others, plumbers blow torch an old blade almost red hot cuts and seals works a treat!

Yes, ashridge, if you or anyone reading this find Pholiota aurivella and Ganodermas in close contact let me know! I guess there will be the odd one but this is a trend for sure. could turn out to be utter ruhbarb of course!

well it looked like a dogs bum to me! lol

This will be regular, and root rot & root fommes are two I have heard but Im not going to give common names as a rule, just when they are well stuck and not numerous. I am so glad this thread is appreciated, I have spent so long photographing these things, reading about them and growing to be totaly absorbed by them I am only to glad to share what I have with all of you, some of this will NOT be in any txt book, least not one costing under a ton!

Im pretty sure all the brains, ie crystal brain, yellow brain, black brain etc are all Tremella species.

not this form my friend!

LOL it will it will! god i could tell you some stories!

In leaf litter of an oak? they aint tortrix grubs are they?

They look like leather jackets monkey, daddy long legs!

That is one wierd looking beastie, like a bahemoth great scale insect! get it on WAB ASAP

I have a little theory about that david! this is in a stand of trees, and i suspect, due to seeing fruit bodies in one that all these have P. aurivella, and equaly certain ther is some "defence" of teritory going on, not a sniff of gano anywhere near this group, not even a wiff! but rampant elswhere in the woods

Safer for who? I have to sleep at night, and I am confidant enough in my ability to hold a good argument to fight my corner, i would rather do what is correct and do a little extra effort than get the client to go back and ask the consul to re consider his spec then get back to us to do it again, there is a cieling to peoples budgets and you have a duty to keep that to a minimum. especialy when theyve paid out for a consultant on top of the contractor!