Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: April 2021

I recently moved to SW Stroud in Gloucestershire and to my delight found more footpaths nearby than I ever had access to in Cornwall. My first stroll found a delightful Willow Carr area in a location called The Heavens, which will be my local patch for sure. If the name has anything to do with it then it could well be where its name originated from. Mid-March and found my first agaric of the year in Agrocybe praecox. Everything points to this except I couldn't see any ring developing on the stem but also understand this species is out there for the experts to decide if this is more than one species. I would suggest so, maybe variant. One or two resupinates were interesting finds at Miserden Park, during a delightful walk on a glorious spring sunny day. First was Phlebia lilascens, as the name suggests with a raised 'bubbly' smooth surface, with short margins found on a Scots Pine branch. Mystery leptocystidia appeared occasionally so added as a 'likely' only as perhaps again a possible close species unknown to me. The other was a cob-webby type whitish fungus on Fagus in Athelia bombacina, which has the habit of spores pairing with each other, as was the case here. One of my first strolls nearby into The Heavens allowed me to find a very unusual but beautiful resupinate, something you can't say very often. This turned out to be Ceripora triumphalis (was spissa) with a bright orange/yellow surface, no clamps and significantly turning instant purple in KOH. Small spores then claimed this one, which became only 3rd in UK recorded with certainty. Three uncommon ascomycetes species were recorded also, all found in and around the Willow Carr area in Bowbridge. First was Niptera melatephra found at the base of Juncus inflexus and 3rd record for Gloucs., another Nitschkia species this year with N. confertula, which looked more like a sooty mould when first seen. 1st for Gloucs. since 1978. Odd as must be more common, perhaps neglected for the look-a-like mould species I mentioned. Almost in the same place a Rossellinia nearly went by without checking, but did and as this was on Ivy could be easily seen as R. mammiformis. A very good start for my new homestead and fungi habitat. Stroud Cemetery looks good, not for me later but for the ancient woodland and mixed Victorian type trees around this peaceful setting. Just up the road, so good for fungi - or, you never know - the other thing ....