Thursday, 3 July 2025

JUNE 2025 - Rare to Uncommon species recorded this month

What is becoming the norm for June just keeps getting worse, with hottest days recorded since, etc., etc... Still fungi have ways of hiding out in odd places and so this is where I spent my time with a few pleasing finds. At Hailey's Wood found on a Carex species stem was Acrospermum graminium, few other Gloucs. records. Also at this location under a stack of Acer leaves, which means the very lowest ones are still damp, was Lachnum rhytismatis, again few others in Gloucs. Dung offers opportunities year round and this time on Sheep at Sudgrove I found the large spored Ascobolus immersus once again, still few records after a 7-day culture. Another dung species this time on Deer (probably Muntjac) were lots of Trichobolus zukalii, with its long setae hairs and multi-spored ascus. Almost attractive! An uncommon rust was detected on Butterbur at Mill End Row canal, Stonehouse in Coleosporium petasitis. Also here was Gaeumannomyces tritici, new for County. A short trip up to the NT location at Woodchester (south) as this has a cafĂ© but with ridiculous priced cakes, hence I just have coffee! £4.75 for a miserable looking small flapjack. Insane. Trekking down the slope under an old Fagus fallen branch I found Mycoacia nothofagi, 1st for Gloucs, my second record having found this years ago in Sth. Bucks where I spent most of my past years. A nice discomycete in Niptera ramincola found at Washpool Woods and again looking for water at the pond in Sth Minchinhampton, I found on a Water Mint root the rare Obilia rectispora as my feet started to sink. Just four ascomata, but it was still damp .. so still lived. I nearly died, but very much worth it! An uncommon resupinate was found under Pinus at Duntisbourne Woods in Tubulicrinis glebulosus. Few other county records. Lastly, during a necessary trip down into North Hampshire, I dropped into The Chase NR near the A34, and soon after  parking the car I nearly stepped on of all things a Russula .. at this time of the year uncommon, but the species not so in R. parazurea. Although I show the Guaiac reaction as negative, after 10 mins it finally turned pale blue, so positive you could say, but the strong yellow reaction to start with should be noted also, never seen in the literature. However, they are always fun to try to make these into something really rare, then of course they always aren't!  Good to see.

Acrospermium graminium

Ascobolus immersus

Ascobolus immersus

Coleosporium petasitis

Gaeumannomyces tritici

Lachnum rhytismatis

Lachnum rhytismatis

Mycoacia nothofagi

Mycoacia nothofagi cystidia

Niptera ramincola

Orbilia rectispora

Orbilia rectispora

Russula parazurea

Trichobolous zukalii

Trichobolous zukalii

Tubulicrinis glebulosus

Tubulicrinis glebulosus


Tuesday, 3 June 2025

MAY 2025 - Uncommon to rare species recorded this month

The warm weather continued in May with hardly any rain during the month, so I expected it would be a tough time to find fungi, if any. However, early in the month at a visit to Hellen's House in Herefordshire I collected a few Agrocybe sps growing in grass in a shaded position. These worked out to be A. molesta or Bearded Fieldcap, so that was a good start. But that was it! I did find a few other basidiomycetes in the form of resupinates with Ceripora spissa on Salix at Cotswold Water Park, which has a glorious soft orangey cheesy feel to the surface and Peniophore boidinii, found on Dog Rose at the bottom of my garden! Both uncommon species. A visit again to Cirencester Park produced an unusual Mollisia type species in Tapesia lividofusca, however the bigger surprise was seeing another species in the camera at home showing a delightful hairy yellow very small discomycete which I had missed entirely due to its size visually! Looking closer this turned out to be what appears to be only the 2nd record in the UK for Amicodisca svrekii. Amazing. Key here was yellow exudate clinging to the hairs of this species. During an opportunist look along a canal at Blunder Lock nr Stonehouse, I came upon Botryosphaeria festucae, quite rare and with unusual large ascospores being 7th UK record, on a dead Dicot stem I couldn't work out. Back to one of my local patches at Climperwell this time at the top end fields where farmers are more often leaving wild edges to their crops. Terrific. Here I recorded Cericospora polygonacaerum on Fallopia, 9th UK record plus Phaeosphaeria nigrans and Stagonospora vitensis on grasses, the latter 1st for Gloucs. Also at Hellen's House was Coniochaeta ligniaria with very unusual 4 and 8-spored asci. Not seen that before in the same collection. 1st for Herefordshire. Lastly, back to Climperwell Under a wet branch and growing as parasitic fungus enveloping a fly pupa was Pandora dipterigena. Macabre, but fungi couldn't care less! Few other county records.

Agrocybe modesta

Agrocybe modesta

Amicodisca svrekii

Amicodisca svrekii

Amicodisca svrekii exudate

Botryosphaeria festucae

Cercospora polygonacearum

Ceriporia spissa

Coniochaeta ligniaria - 4-spored

Coniochaeta ligniaria - 8-spored

Coniochaeta ligniaria

Pandora dipterigena

Pandora dipterigena



Peniophora boidinii

Peniophora boidinii

Phaeosphaeria nigrans

Stagonospora vitensis

Tapesia lividofusca

Tapesia lividofusca



Saturday, 3 May 2025

APRIL 2025 - Uncommon to rare species recorded this month

 Another interesting month even if one of the hottest with a couple of rare Mollisias on unusual substrates. While taking in the sights at Burford Garden Centre and on exit I spotted a dead stem of a small 'curly topped' Bamboo plant I have never seen before. I am still trying to find out what it is and will need another visit I would imagine. Wonderful place in case you have never been there. On this I identified Alternaria infectoria which would be 2nd for Oxfordshire. Towards the end of the month during a visit to Brimsfield woods/stream I found Brunnipila fusescens. Not that uncommon but added here as such a lovely fungus seen here at x40! During a BioBash survey at Westonbirt Arboretum along with my fungi friend Laura Dutton we found Fibroporia gossypium (was Antrodia) under a massive fallen Douglas Fir tree trunk, this would be 1st for Gloucs and 20th for the UK. Very soft large pored resupinate, with seeping resin and pungent smelling strongly mushroomy odour. It was almost at this same spot that under a unusual species of tree Cercidiphyllum japoniclum (which you would expect in an Arboretum) I found very tiny apothecia of a Molllisia species with everything suggesting this was M. ulicis. 2nd for the UK. I would normally try to obtain DNA evidence at this rarity status, unfortunately as each ascomata was less than 0.5mm this soon became next to nothing on drying and I was unable to take this forward. A short visit to one of my favourite spots at Climperwell Woods and stream brought me to Mollisia luctuosa growing on a Pendulous Sedge stem. This has large pointy 1-septate spores and clavate hairs. This being 1st for Gloucs. Also here and growing on an unknown well rotten broadleaf branch poking out of the water were an ascomycete I thought visually were a Rosellinia species and thought twice about bothering to gather and identify. I did, and glad I did as this became the unbelievably named Kirshsteiniothelia aethiops which has large two-celled spores and is quite rare. 4th for the UK in fact. 

Alternaria infectoria

Alternaria infectoria

Brunnipila fusescens

Fibroporia gossypium

Fibroporia gossypium

Kirshsteiniothelia aethiops

Kirshsteiniothelia aethiops

Kirshsteiniothelia aethiops

Mollisia luctuosa

Mollisia luctuosa

Mollisia luctuosa

Mollisia ulicis

Mollisia ulicis

Mollisia ulicis