Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: St Mawgan Woods, Nr. Newquay

I went to a new location today as the site looked good to traverse a decent public footpath and by a river, which is always useful in winter months. Starting at the back of the Inn in this delightful village, a path takes you into a wooded area by a river where a large car park is situated, one I'll remember next time! The path moves through Hazel, then past an area of Rhododendron which had just been pruned with the outcast branches still fresh by the path-side. Great for me and unusual as it opened up for easy access to some interesting resupinates. The first was quite obvious as there was a large expanse of pale ochre looking tight fitting fungus on a large recently felled branch. This took some checking later but after spore results and other characteristics turned out to be a seldom recorded Scytinostroma ochroleucum, a fungi normally found on yew. This was my first problem, but solved when I found a few earlier records had been found on Rhododendron, and of all places Kew Gardens so the records were sound. This will be a first for Cornwall. Not far away I found another Yew protagonist in Amylostereum laevigatum, but also grows on this substrate. Uncommon in Cornwall and this would count as only the second record. A more common resupinate in Cylindrobasium laeve was also found here. Nearby, I turned over a very rotten Rhod. branch to discover a wonderful looking myxomycetes. 100's of minuscule glossy black spheres looked back at me challenging me to ID them. This was the myxomycete Metatrichia floriformis, new species for me, as most today. This being the sixth record for Cornwall. Further on the path widens and areas left and right flatten out to a wider area of Hazel/Beech and a mixture by the River Menalhyl. Here I found an area burnt in the past and odd branches and a large stump had remained. Here I found several good species the first another resupinate in Subulicystidium longisporum. Not common and recorded a few times in Cornwall. Nearby my interest sparked as I found a small group of cup fungi on a burnt branch this turned out to be Lachnum brevipilosum. It has 1mm tiny stems with a small ivory flat cap, fairly common. Inside a large broken up stump I found hidden inside Tapesia fusca, a small pale blue cup fungi not often recorded. First for Cornwall once again. Lastly, and as I was thinking about leaving as my dinner loomed heavily in my head, was a large fungus growing low down on a single sycamore tree. Closer inspection displayed a grotesque looking porous looking fungus, dripping water and sodden throughout. This would have been difficult to collect and dry at home except for my cunning invention (copied from some bright author) of collecting my samples in tin foil. So I was able to return home and to my wife's delight stink the house out for a few minutes. This must be Physisporinus sanguinolentus or Bleeding Porecrust. A good afternoon's foray for sure and very pleasant location.