Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: June 2019

This time of the year it's unlikely to find a great many species of fungi especially when most of May and beginning of June was so dry. I aimed for wetter places to visit, unsurprisingly, and so still managed to locate one or two interesting agarics. In early May I found myself in Lanhydrock woods (near Bodmin) and thought it had been a wasted journey until I searched a cut wasteland of ex-conifer plantation. Here a splendid and recently 'hatched' Phallus impudicus appeared. On 1st June I headed for Breney Common, known for its ponds and marshy areas, also good for wild flowers as this is another pastime I follow in the summer months. Again, not much around and also slightly desperate when you are turning logs to see if there is an asco or myxo about. Walking into a drying up pond, as it had been so hot for some time, I was able to walk around the surface but spotted a few mushrooms growing on Sphagnum. This turned out to be my first Sphagnurus paluster or Sphagnarum Greyling. Recently renamed from Tephrocybe palustris. On 10th June, I decided that wild flowers would be the best natural world species to aim for as I was heading for The Lizard, one of the splendid places in Cornwall which hold all sorts of rare plants. I wasn't disappointed and found some very rare flowers but I won't go into that here! I ventured out onto the heath land and moor at North Predannock Downs, about 5 miles north of The Lizard. This is a CWT location but to enter the site isn't easy and you have to find the only gate in about two miles of track that even a fox would find difficult to find. Once moving around the moor, I located on some horse dung very small fungi emerging from the substrate. On closer but short observation! this turned out later under the microscope to be Parasola misera, or Least Inkcap. First for me and one of only a few records for Cornwall. Finally, for this report and on 15th June I headed to my local patch at Hawkes Wood. I found an early bolete in Xerocomellus chrysenteron, not rare in itself but certainly uncommon to be seen so early. Perhaps the heavy rain at mid-June helped the fungi to suggest it was now or never- so let's go. I traced myself back to a fallen tree I had found a very rare Xylaria sps., Xyalaria cinerea, early in the year. On checking the site I found these young specimens spouting well across the tree, so added these here as the mature fungi is difficult to see but these white headed youngsters are even rarer. Moving onto 17th June I visited my other local patch at Treraven Wood, owned by the Gaia Trust, whom I am now helping out with ID for species found at the site. Here I located another Stinkhorn, two in fact, plus more interestingly a 'LBJ' of the fungi world in Entoloma hebes. This is a small typical nondescript looking mushroom, but with a distinct spore arrangement which helped guide me to this species. Lastly, at my favourite woodchip pile I found for the first time here and for me Psilocybe cyanescens or Blueleg Brownie. A hallucinogenic species to be avoided. I recorded an African Elephant on the way back to the car, then thought back I shouldn't have sniffed that fungi.