Ben R

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 ?

1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 2020 Corona nation of Queen Elizabeth II

Agree Pleurotus, and ostreatus is likeliest. The cap colour is very variable with that species. Very nice.

Watching the news reminded me of an old one, so for anyone who's escaped it..... How do you turn a duck into a soul singer? Stick it in the oven until it's bill withers

They're from the archives - something to do on lockdown!

Cheers AJ. A few more for ya 1. Leafy Brain (Tremella foliacea). Parasitic on another fungus - Hairy Curtain Crust (stop sniggering!) 2 & 3. Spotted Blewit (Lepista panaeola). Grows in clusters or trooping on ancient, unimproved grassland. The scurfy 'spots' on the caps are a good species indicator. Uncommon. 4. Bay Polypore (Polyporus durus). Saprobic on fallen hardwoods esp Beech. There are other similar, related species but they don't grow as large. 5. Bulbous Honey Fungus (Armillaria gallica). Whitish above the short-lived stem ring, concolorous with cap below, very swollen stem base. 6 & 7. Peppery Roundhead (Stropharia pseudocyanea). Smaller size and peppery scent distinguishes it from related lookalikes. Found in short grass habitats (here a churchyard). Saprobic.

Funny how the subconscious mind’s recognition abilities can leave the ‘thinking you’ standing. While driving up a town High Street this morning, the very corner of my eye registered - in what felt like a split second - a flash of familiar yellow from the base of a short n stocky tree set back some distance from the road and discretely positioned in front of a tall hedge. Needless to say, I span around at the earliest convenient opportunity and sure enough..... You folks would know exotics, cultivars, crosses and the like better than I, but the host was Salix, a ‘weeping’ variety. Hmm...wonder where I can I buy an ‘I slow down and perform U turns for fruiting bodies’ car sticker....?

Yes, but believe it or not a couple of specimens were twice the size. It's a big fungus. Here's another rare beauty - once seen, never forgotten! Blue Cobalt Crust (Terana caerulea). Saprobic on dead hardwoods (here Beech). Stroud, Glos. The second fungus is a rare/uncommon Ganoderma species - G. lucidum. Told by the kidney shape, reddish upper surface and the thin, knobbly, finger-like stem. Found on an old hardwood stump (Oak i think) near Ledbury, Herefordshire. Saprobic or parasitic. Last pic shows a species to look out for from anytime soon - Poplar Fieldcap (Cyclocybe cylindracea). These were found in May 2016 near Newent, Glos. Despite the common name, it doesn't occur exclusively on Poplus.

Actually, looking again, 'Black Witches Butter' (either Exidia glandulosa or the lookalike E. plana) is probably a better bet than B. inquinans - they are very similar. Sorry!

Thanks AJ. R. Phillips and the Collins book (Buczaki et al) are the ones i normally use in the first instance. Keep chipping away at it (pardon the arborist pun!) and as with anything, you'll improve. Joining your local Fungus Group will help too. Online, there's ISPOT and the UK Fungi Forum. Think your above species is Black Bulgar (Bulgaria inquinans).

Here's a rare one for the pot - Satan's Bolete Rubroboletus satanus. Found on calcareous soils and mycorrhizal with Oak.?

Hi youngsbury It''s an 'Earthstar' (Geastrum) but there are a number of lookalikes so it's difficult to say which species it is. Very nice. Cheers Ben

Hi AJ Wonderful Cauliflower Fungus specimen - great find. It's not easy identifying fungi from photos and the less there are, the harder it is, but I suspect your coral is Ramaria rather than Clavulina as the latter usually has finer tips than this. No 3 looks like it might be Freckled Dapperling Echinoderma asperum (size, general features and esp the cap with widely distributed, small, pointed scales). 4 is possibly Deceiver Laccaria laccata. Sorry to stick my nose in your post! Ben

I've been right through this thread - lots of great pics/examples! On page 2 Steve asked what the small blue brackets shown in Yve's post were. I think it's one of the Blueing Bracket Postia caesia 'complex'. If the substrate was coniferous, P. caesia, or if broadleaf, then P. subcaesia or P. alni. Yve's other fungi are or look like they might be, 1 & 3 the famous Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria, 2 is Russula. Quite possibly ochroleuca which is very common, but in most cases you need microscopy to get to species with Russula. So many lookalikes! Best guess for 4 is Plums and Custard Tricholomopsis rutilans. Agree with Fungus re page 8 - Armillaria.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, plenty more pics and I took a slice for confirmation (which was quite tricky since the fungus was above my head and below it the tree was surrounded by thick brambles). What did you want to see?

Hello all. I'm afraid completing a Chainsaw Maintenance and Felling of Small Trees course many moons ago and a brief stint surveying for Phytophthora is pretty much the full extent of my professional involvement with forestry skills. However, both myself and a member of another Fungus Group were most impressed with the Arbtalk Rigidoporus ulmarius threads (my route here). Thank you for an excellent resource David and fellow contributors. Looking beyond, i found plenty more of interest for fungiphiles like me.? You lot seem like an agreeable bunch too. Here then, is a contribution: R. ulmarius, Cornwall, 2020. I don't pretend the photo is anything special but the subject certainly was! A massive fruiting body circa 65-70 cm across and maybe 50 deep, thrusting forth from what looked like an old wound a couple of metres or so up the bole. Along with the 'Cornish pasty' bracket margin, the upper surface algal growth, and of course that thick white flesh/thin brown tube layer contrast seen when cutting yourself a slice of 'conk cake', i find another useful (and perhaps less frequently mentioned) indicator for this fungus are these muscular, buttress-like ridges that frequently occur on the pore surface. Cheers Ben