Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: Uncommon species found December 2020

Well December produced a sack full of lovely new species mostly ascomycetes, but also one or two unusual basidiomycetes also. And that was before Santa ignored all the "Only essential travel" signs. Found on horse dung on Bodmin Moor at Bolatherick was the beautiful Cheilymenia fimicola asco, other than it's substrate. Sometimes, beautiful things are attached to ugly so called supports. At the same place I found the unusual yellow based stem of Cuphophyllus flavipes waxcap, a big surprise this late in the season. At my local patch of Hawkes Wood, now past 100 species here from my records, I found what looked like a common Lachum, but after careful microscopic work turned into L. subvirgineum, 2nd for Cornwall. A visit to Shell Wood was disappointing, to see that most of the woodland under the Forestry Comm. had gone and access to the River Camel had been banned by a landowner, where normally 100's of folk walked their dogs through a beautiful part of Cornish woodland. What a miserable thing to do. Maybe there are just so many black bags a landowner can take hanging from what is normally a tranquil tree laden river walk. It is becoming a habit now. However, I found a part of the ancient woodland at the north end still dripping with moss and old wood and it was here I found Merismodes anomala, but you would need a magnifying glass to see it on the wood yet alone call it fungi. 3rd for Cornwall. Also here I found a few FB's of the crust fungi Stereum but at home proved to be the more unusual S. rameale. Back at Hawkes Wood once again on 11th Dec., I found a lovely looking Myxomycete which gave up its identify when under the microscope as Trichia decipiens. Also here I found a discomycete type fungus in Polydesmia pruinosa, 1st for me but apparently quite common elsewhere. A return trip on 14th to Little Petherick estuary footpath provided some rare species and I only covered 50 meters from the start of the FP. First up was a Resupinatus looking fungi, found on a Ash branch close to water but under intense scrutiny and a little help from 'my friends' agreed on Hohenbuehelia cyphelliformis. Nice. Also here and under damp conditions and later under the scope I found my second but rare minute hairy Lasiobelonium lonicerae, 2nd for Cornwall - er ... after my first a few months ago agreed by the good-n-great of asco mycology. Not finished, and only had walked 10 metres, I came upon a stem of dead Hog Weed, inspecting this in case, found a most unusual ascomycete. After carefully checking all the books etc., I found nothing. It wasn't until I checked Dr Paul Cannon's site at Kew gardens and checking hosts, that I located Ophioceras leptosporum. 100's of tiny minute stalks. Rare in the rest of UK, but many more records found by the intrepid mycologist in Cornwall Ken Preston-Mafpham. An unsung hero of fungi discovery in Cornwall.