Ben R

The aliens are here and they’re posing as trees...

Just had some photos retrieved from a old, scrapped laptop, so here's a few more for the album. All are uncommon/rare. First up, on - i think - Beech, the stunning crust (or 'resupinate') fungus, Blue Cobalt Crust Terana caerulea. Once seen, never forgotten... 2. One of the Parasol Mushroom clan found on unimproved grassland - Macrolepiota excoriata. Similar to the 'regular' Parasol Mushroom Macrolepiota procera which occurs in the same type of habitat, but note the cap surface which 'excoriates' (blisters) away from the margin (often in one piece). My suspected ID was later confirmed by microscopy. 3. Also found on ancient rough grassland, Spotted Blewit Lepista panaeolus. This often has scurfy spots on the cap and only the vaguest hints of the violet colours seen in other Blewit species. Other than that, quite similar though; if you know Wood and Field Blewits quite well, you'll probably recognise it as one of that group if you come across it. 4. Warted Amanita Amanita strobiliformis is usually found in ancient woodland and looks similar to (my previously posted) Amanita echinocephala. However, it has large, flat scales on the cap rather than small spiky ones and as you can see, a rather ragged/shabby look about it. Cheers Ben

Don't worry, i don't think i've got any more after this!? 1. Old picture of a pine, somewhere in Somerset i think. 2. Strange Beech leaning uphill (unsupported) near Stroud. Anyone know what's going on here? 3. One for Viz Comic - an Ash seen near the Sharpness Canal, near Gloucester

Hard to imagine a more revolting mushroom than one that looks like it's been dipped in snot - the slimy-as-you-like Larch Bolete Suillus grevillei:

Yes indeed, AJ. The dotted ('stippled') stem and tiny pores makes this Leccinum. It looks rather like L. scabrum. Were there Birch trees around?

Lovely crop of Mycena! Wouldn't like to take a stab at species, but the colour, the noticeably lined cap with ragged margin and slightly-flattened-off top (which reminds me of M. pseudocorticola), does narrow things down quite a bit.

It's new to me though and i liked it. This tree stump i saw recently made me think of Mick Jagger............

Agree with David - the fungus grew around the seedling. Young fruiting bodies aren't as woody. Common Ink-caps can push up through tarmac.

It doesn't seem 'shaggy' enough for Pholiota to me. They are usually smaller than this too. Something about the gill attachment and stem ridging suggests it could be Honey Fungus, but trouble is, when fungi get old, a confident id is much harder to achieve, sorry. If it fruits again and you (Jacquemontii) can get photos of fresh mushrooms, we should have it.

Thanks Steve. I loved your Facebook ones - amazing! Here's the 'other one' which is situated close to the Cotswold Way National Path near Randwick in Standish Woods (F.C.), and therefore publically accessible. Again, it's a Beech teetering at the top of a quarry pit. This time though, quarrying and/or erosion have exposed the roots creating this huge, bizarre lattice-like 'bridge' anchoring the tree to the bank behind. You can walk under it if you stoop a little. Meanwhile, a huge boulder (pic 4) has created a second headache on the opposite, quarry face side. To which the tree has responded in the manner of a heraldic hawk - by gripping it like a ball. I don't think i'm ever likely to hug a tree but think i'd consider giving this one a round of applause.? Sorry there are so many pics but it was very difficult choosing which ones to include.

Ah! ? This next one is unlikely to have been aired before as it's on the privately-owned farm where my mum grew up. It's the first of two examples of mature Beech stoically coping with adversity. Both are from long-disused 'open caste' stone quarries. Well anchored but leaning a bit and precariously straddling the edge of a large arch (big enough to drive a car through) left by workings. The only time i've truly stood under a big tree. The whole thing i mean - canopy, trunk and roots.?

Not the most amazing tree you'll ever see, but worth a look: the famous (in Heres/Glos area) 1,500 year old Yew in St Barts churchyard, Much Marcle. Take a pew inside. Hollowed be thy name. Presumably in an effort to prevent them from breaking off under their own weight, many of the branches used to held up by huge chains on poles. This made for an interesting spectacle. Disappointingly, these have since been replaced by a metal 'goalpost'-style framework.

Arachnophobes beware! ? I've been through most, but not all, of this thread so apologies if you've had these before. Cave Spiders (Meta) are one of the biggest UK species (although shiny, not hairy). I didn't show my Mrs these pics ?!! They prefer to live in complete darkness and these days are occasionally discovered, as the name suggests, in caverns and man-made underground structures (as here) such as culverts and drainage alcoves. However, it's thought that the traditional haunt was old, hollowed-out standing timber like the oak in the other shot. So it's possible you may encounter them. There are two species so alike you need an experienced, microscope-wielding expert to tell them apart: Meta menardi and the rarely-recorded, Meta bournetii. These pics show the latter. They have beautiful gleaming bodies resembling gem stones. If it's any comfort to any arachnophobes reading, they seem very placid critters and tend to stay motionless - even when a camera lens looms closely over them. Cheers Ben

Great post this. So pleasing to have a resource where such examples can be collected together. Some amazing trees here - so thanks Steve and all contributors. I have a few more of my own from the archives to add shortly, but for now, take a look at this. I'm not sure that it counts as 'remarkable' and it may not even be a tree (though some sources elsewhere suggest it is roots - hence my posting). My initial - tentative - thought was that it could be Honey Fungus 'bootlaces', although it doesn't seem quite right. However, given the location, it's might be reasonable to say it's something seldom seen, so maybe worth an inclusion? Well I've been in several such mines and this is the only time i've seen anything like it anyway! Observed underground gripping a huge boulder fallen from the ceiling of a 'gallery' in a disused Cotswold stone mine. At the surface (not many metres away) are mature Beech, Scots Pine and others. See what you think. Opinions/thoughts welcome... Thanks Ben

It could be the canker Neonectria ditissima common globally on fruit trees.

Wow, that's a 'stampede' of Hoof Fungus! (I can make up collective nouns if I want to lol)

Yeah that's the charmingly named Dog's Vomit Slime Mould Fuligo septica.? Not to be confused with the similar Dog's Vomit Slime Mould Mucilago crustacea which occurs in grass.

Hello again folks Frequently listed as 'uncommon' in the books, but find the habitat, find the species. The Tiger Sawgill Lentinus tigrinus - which occurs on Salix - likes it wet, VERY wet. It's even seen on sodden, half submerged logs. It was abundant beneath a boardwalk on flood meadows near Gloucester on Friday. White blobs everywhere i looked - on both standing trees and fallen wood. Very chuffed to find it and it certainly brightened up walking in the rain. Examine the edge of the gills with a hand lens and the 'sawgill' part of it's common name makes sense. Less sure about the 'tiger' bit! Look for gregarious fairly small (up to 10-12 cm) mushrooms with depressed/funnel-shaped white caps bearing attractive red-brown apressed scales. The gills are closely packed and run down the short, thin stem a bit (decurrent). Always on Willows - far as i know. Related to Shiitake. Cheers Ben

PPE shortage tip: Nappies make an excellent substitute for face masks

Just out for my Govt-permitted daily exercise and found these (mycorrhizal) St George’s Mushrooms Calocybe gambosum among the longer grass at the edge of a city cricket pitch. A frequent find in my area (but apparently not everywhere) and having flicked back through, it looks like a new addition to the thread. Nothing particularly rare or unusual turned up so far at this location but I’ve previously found a fair range; Ganoderma australe, White Dapperling, Xerocomellus, Boletus, Bolete Mould, Yellow Stainer, Shaggy Parasol, Clustered Domecap, Psathyrella, Oyster, Field Blewit, Tricholoma, Ramaria, The Blusher and Fairy Ring Champignon to name a few off the top of my head. Very good considering the size of the site. Anyway, having followed best practice, I’ve taken only enough for a single meal/left the emergent young ones, I’m off home. Yum!?

Honey fungus is quite variable and there are several subtly different species, but it’s generally a bit larger and usually seen in a ‘tufted habit‘ (growing in tight, dense clumps).

These are past their best of course, which always ‘muddies the waters’, but agree with Treeation - they look like Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma). A photo of the gills would clinch that id.

Just adding host tree pics for the above R. ulmarius sighting. Maybe Salix babylonica or a hybrid thereof? Yellowy shoots, narrow leaves, alternate with dentate margins and tapering to a fine point ( I suspect this generic description may not be of much use in getting to species with Salix!) Memorial flowers have since appeared around the bole, and taking a look all around the tree for the first time, I discovered further fruiting bodies including an even bigger one to the ‘rear’ (last pic).?

1-2. False Saffron Milk Cap Lactarius deterrimus Mycorrhizal with conifers. Near Shap, Cumbria 3-5. Jelly Tooth Pseudohydnum gelatinosum Saprobic on fallen conifer timber, particularly spruces. The common name is apt! Uncommon. Near Shap, Cumbria 6-7. Shield Pinkgill Entoloma clypeatum. Thought to be mycorrhizal with Rosaceae shrubs esp Hawthorn. Grassy spots and appears in spring. Uncommon. Wells, Somerset 8. One of the magnificent (and in some cases deadly poisonous) Amanita bunch. The small, pointed veil remnants on the cap, slightly greenish, sickly-looking taint to the gills, habitat, and strong unpleasant smell (detergent/chemical) of this all (off) white fungus make it Amanita echinocephala. At the boundary of it’s European range in southern England and usually described as uncommon/rare in guides. However, in areas perfectly suited to it’s preferences (mature beech woodland on well-drained, limey soils), it can be locally frequent. I’ve seen quite a few times around the Cotswold hills. Mycorrhizal with Beech. Near Stroud, Glos 9. White Dapperling Leucoagaricus leucothites. All white species resembling an Amanita occurring in grassy places. The little village churchyard where these were found was dotted white all over. A superb fungus spectacle of around 150 mushrooms! Saprobic. Near Marlborough, Wiltshire 10. Grey Shag Coprinopsis cinerea. An ink cap species that favours decomposing substrates. These were found among the urine-drenched straw, sawdust, rabbit ‘croutons’ and other detritus thrown out of a pet’s hutch. Thornbury, South Glos Do speak up if I’m droning on and getting annoying won’t you folks! Thanks ?

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