Ben R

😆

Ha! Are you inadvertently indicating your age there Doug? 😆 I nearly put that but thought few might remember (or even be aware of) the Meteors, Stingrays, early 80’s ‘psychobilly’ scene and it’s primary venue - the Club Foot in London.

Last one. Beech trees with human anatomy:

“When I said, “take some off the top, I meant my hair!”

I realise faces in Birch, particularly eyes, are a common sight, but please bear with me as I feel this one’s a little more ‘specialist’. While awaiting the start of our fascinating subterranean guided tour of Gloucester’s ancient Eastgate, we killed time behind the museum and spotted - somewhat befittingly, given the location - a face that had a certain bygone look about it. A bit like a powder-and-pamper, Regency era ‘dandy’ such as Beau Brummel. A young man so obsessed with his personal presentation that apparently, he would refuse to turn his head to face others during conversation at the dinner table - for fear of crumpling his cravat. Hardcore!

No 2 is one of the Mycena but it’s a large genus so it’s difficult to get to species with any reasonable level of confidence, sorry. At least, for me! Suspect 3 is one of the ‘Cavaliers’ (Melanoleuca). Could be M. grammopodia based on pale cap inverted at maturity with dark central ‘button, pale gills and the grassy location.

Agree with your statement 👍 The flesh colour and large size strongly suggests C. geotropa (Trooping) to me, as nebularis has greyish tones. I see both of these all the time locally.

By this late stage the fungus will have already shed innumerable spores and will continue to do so, like a plucked tomato ripens off in the bowl. I always leave the fungi where I find them. Just so’s you know! 🍄❤️

One more and I’ll leave you in peace 😁 Just the two specimens found, near the ‘Devil’s Chymney’, Cheltenham. The size and cap colour narrow the possibilities down to a very small handful - the ‘large blue’ faction of the grassland ‘Pinkgills’ (Entoloma). All are scarce and the guides usually caution that they can be difficult to separate in the field. However, I’ve seen the very blue-blue toned E. bloxamii a few times. It was first positively identified to me by a very experienced expert on a Fungus Group foray. Meanwhile, E. madidum typically looks more of a pale, royal blue in the photos and I’ve been lead to believe this is distinguishing (once you’ve ‘got your eye in’). This stunner though, was an incredible BLACK-blue - and what a contrast that makes to those bright, rosey-pink gills below eh? The much darker tone, MIGHT then, mean Entoloma atromadidum is the best fit. Beauty, whatever! Cheers🙂

While I wouldn’t gamble my life savings on it, this suggests ageing Inonotus hispidus to me. Especially the reddish-orange colour tones of the upper surface coupled with the contrasting cream-coloured pore surface. With maturity, the initially broadly rounded margin of the I. hispidus bracket often becomes narrowed and ‘sharpened’ in this manner too. Don’t think Phellinus pomaceus (which is usually very hard and more rounded in shape) gets this big. Though maybe jfc sees it more frequently than I and can confirm otherwise.

This is an interesting, if unspectacular looking, fungus: Agaricus bernardii - one of the wild species related to regular ’shop’ mushrooms (which are a cultivar of A. bisporus). The natural habitat is southern coastal meadows/dunes within the sea spray zone, but just like Danish Scurvy-grass (the small, mat-forming plant that now dominates the edges and central reservations of motorways such as the M5 for miles during springtime), A. bernardii has enjoyed a huge range expansion inland thanks to us humans and our habit of spreading salt on roads in winter. Both plant and mushroom love the stuff (and so does this crisp addict! 😆)

Hi rupetree. This is one of the Ganoderma. While it’s impossible to be certain, judging by the shiny, red-brown upper surface, the broad attachment to the wood and the Beech host, I think G. resinaceum looks a good bet. G. lucidum is similarly a shiny red-brown, but that one most frequently has a stem, though stemless specimens can occur.

This looks like Dog Lichen (Peltigera) 🙂

Peaches and Ears. Fading Rhodotus palmatus sharing a home (Elder) with Auricularia auricula-judae.

More R. ulmarius examples. Just thought these might be worth a look owing not to the fungus itself, but the host. Personally I’ve never found it on Elder, - VINTAGE Elder that is - before. Cue others saying they see it on that all the time 😆 A pair of young brackets on trees a couple of metres apart. One halfway up the bole, the other basal.