Fungus

also see Stamets growing medicinal and gormet mushrooms, pay particular attention to Grifola frondosa and turkey tail aka Trametes versicolor which cured his mother of breast cancer

Tony,

Nothing new here, besides, this is not knowledge coming from Stamets, but from Chinese and Japanese (shiitake) medicinal herb and fungi experts and researchers, i.e. from a tradition that goes as far back as the taoists, who already mixed Ganoderma powder with ginseng in their elixers.

See the chapter on medicinal fungi on my CD-rom The Interactive Guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi and the book "Reishi Mushroom: Herb of spiritual potency and medicinal wonder" by Terry Willard (1990) on Ganoderma lucidum and G. sinense.

Also see the website of Jan Lelly and Ganoderma beer has been around quite a while in Belgium and The Netherlands.

the time of year and couldn’t ever remember seeing honey fungus in such fine fettle after heavy frosts. I also mused over sulphur tuft.

Pete,

This definitely is Flammulina velutipes. Armillaria doesn't fruit this time of year and Hypholoma fasciculare doesn't grow at this height and has brown spores, while these fungi have white spores.

a step further with ecologically, visually, culinary and medicinally important native species. There is enormous complexity to deal with ... clones running mycelium on agar

There has already been spend millions of dollars trying to do this by the only commercially motivated "mycorrhiza" industry, so if you would succeed in effectively "breeding" this type of ectomycorrhizal macrofungi at low costs, you would be a multimillionaire within a few years .

Matt,

1-5 Unknown fungi growing on 2 year old hard woodchip heap : Tubaria hiemalis (= T. furfuracea s.l.).

it is similar to that of beech but probably a lot slower in its effect, it is on the increase in oaks for certain.

IME it's simular to beech for Quercus robur (and Q. petrea) and comparable in its the effects to Grifula frondosa, but M. giganteus and G. frondosa both are far more aggressive on Q. rubra.

'natural balance' ... our ancient woodlands evolved BECAUSE of man (and woman) using the timber and timber products. Surely we should still be doing this but using our greater knowledge to protect vulnerable flora and fauna.

Where has the before given viewpoint on the natural dynamics of forest ecological (re)development of ancient woodland and the role the mycoflora plays in the life cycles of its different tree species specific ecosystems gone ?

confusion between H. petriniae and H.rubiginosum

To be 100% sure : microscope, that's why I said probably and I also think it might be H. rubiginosum, because it often fruits on decorticated wood.

you took the words out of my mouth

Sean,

Could also have been the fruitbodies, because - well fried - they give a nice meal .

5 Hypoxolon fuscum

8 Hypoxolon petriniae

5. Hypoxylon multiforme

8. Probably Hypoxylon rubiginosum

fungi on an old sambucus

Henry,

This might be Agrocybe cylindracea (= A. aegerita).

How can you tell it is Daedaleopsis and not Daedalea?

Besides, I've never seen Daedalea fruit from a branch, it always grows on standing or laying trunks or stumps of oak, in the heartwood of which it causes a dry brown rot, while Daedaleopsis causes a white rot of the heartwood and I've never seen it fruit on oak.

Sarcocypha:thumbup1: coccinea ...

... or Sarcoscypha austriaca or S. jurana.

your first is a typical reaction to Fistulina ...

... or to local brown rot of the heartwood caused by Laetiporus sulphureus, which is often associated with horizontal cracks in the by the column weight outward pushed annual sapwood rings and bark.

what is this brown rotting I.dryinus

You're right, to hasty , I meant brown and/or softrot caused by F. hepatica and white rot and/or (pale) brown coloured soft rot by I. dryadeus.

1) 1'2

2) last P. x canadensis

3) The others are Q. robur

1) Armillaria species with rhizomorphs outside and plaques inside.

2) Could be Abortiporus biennis.

3) The dry brown rot of the heart wood either Laetiporus sulphureus or Daedalea quercina and the brown rot of the sapwood at the trunk's base could be Fistulina hepatica or Inonotus dryinus.

the sycamore may not offer T.S.S.E in the true sense of the term, but in terms of biological activity and diversity that is indirectly affected they do have a role to play in a diverse eco system.

Firstly the aphids feed many young chicks and have themselves a diverse range of predators of the wasp kind, and ladybird larvea. Worms are to be found in great abundence within the soils beneath sycamores, also feeding a diverse range of other organisms and enhancing soil fertility.

I was once a lother of the sycamore bar the open grown specimens, and agree that they do have a rather dominating strategy in a woodland, but in small numbers I would not want to eradicate them entirely.

Tony,

Only a very small number of the organisms you mention are tree species specific and totally depend on the presence of Acer for food and reproduction. And maintaining them in small numbers could be an option, although it would need a lot of managing to keep them that way and from dominating the woodland in ten to twenty years time. I've seen valuable old inner dune woodlands with oak and elm been "destroyed" by sycamore within 25 years, even though the forest management had double ringed them twice every 10 years.

& also by vegetative propagation by being able to shoot up to many, many meters away from parent plant via root sucker growth. Seeds are known to have a low germination rate due to predation by parasites.

True , but I was talking about the long distance strategy of reproduction of Sorbus in general.

Am I right in thinking that this suggests F.hepatica only fruits on living trees and is in no way saprotrophic? The reason I ask is because a few months ago I was surprised to come across a very old oak stump, with only the fissured heartwood remaining, which had a fresh beafstake growing from under a low buttress cavity. Sorry, no photographic evidence.

See my album on Fistulina hepatica.

showing the body language of fairly obvious faults, flaws and failures. Any observations appreciated and any guesses as too fungi responsible for decay would be interesting

It would help, if you would start with giving the species names of the shown trees .

plant some Sorbus torminalis in my woods I am asuming these are endo associating trees, how might I encourage this association on some bare rooted samples, what species do they associate with? these will be 60-80 cm so young trees.

Tony,

Being a tree species spread by birds to new locations, Sorbus is not very picky and will probably associate with almost any endomycorrhizal microfungus present, of which in a longer existing woodland will be more than enough present to colonise the young tree's new developing roots, so nothing has to be done in particular.

1. But we have no records of P. robustus at this site & only 47 known Uk records. Listed as rare and on the red data list here.

2. I would think all the below set are F. fomentarius.

1. And it will stay that way if it isn't checked properly .

2. So do I .

1. There's lots of fungus around but what creatures rely on it ?

2. We're thinking of clearing out some of the holly, would this be bad for biodiversity? I don't think the birds would like it too much.

1. Quite a lot, that don't rely on plants and the trees themselves. There for instance are a lot of insects, that depend on the fruitbodies of bracket fungi or on soil mycelia for their food and reproduction.

2. If you're looking for a partial substitute for the holly, that apart from its fruits doesn't contribute much to the total forest ecosystem, I would suggest the introduction of hazel, the only smaller woodland ectomycorrhizal tree species, that has a well developed tree species specific ecosystem of its own.

I may add this Fomes fomentarius into the mix, which comes from a folder regarding a group of shots taken of this Oak back in July 2009. They appear to be on Oak bark strata

David,

Did you check the spores ? IMO, this might just as well be Phellinus robustus.

Is it that M. galericulata use polyaromatic hydrocarbons to decompose the wood ?

Craig,

Correct, just as Bjerkandera adusta and Hypholoma species such as H. fasciculare do. And just like PCB's, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAK's in Dutch) are on the list of environmental toxics.

1. What does a ectomycorrhizal oaks look like?

2. how will I know when I see a generalistic endomycorrhizal microfungi.

3. Sounds like we need to hire in a biologist to explain this one.

1. Quercus robur and Quercus petrea.

2. By looking at the tree species, see my list of endo- and ectomycorrhizal tree species.

3. No, not a (generalistic) biologist, but a mycologist and forest ecologist, see my post on mycorrhiza.