Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: March 2023

Well another extraordinary month where the mushroom elves showed me around different habitats and where my back garden hid all types of uncommon fungi. I took a short trip back to Ebworth NT Estate, this time at the top end by the main house where I found a very old Picea abies plantation, most of which was cut years ago hence finding excellent old wood on the ground. However, before I got there I stumbled into a wonderful vertical growing corticoid fungus growing at the end of a cut stump of Acer. Once again after carefully checking and the context turning black with Melzers and with the help of Paul Hugill, author of the Hampshire Resupinates guide confirming my 2nd Antrodia carbonica in a month (after Devon) and the UK's 5th record. I found a tiny myxomycete on Picea at Newall Park NT, not uncommon but delightful when photographed at high magnification in Comatricha pulchella - so inc. here. At the bottom of my garden during a leaf clean up as we have an enormous Oak tree near us I saw white dots on a single leaf amongst the 100's and this turned out to be another Myxo. in Didymium trachysporum - 1st Gloucs and 6th UK! On a large Walnut tree at the bottom of my garden I found Gnomonia gnomon - 1st for Gloucs. Also in my garden on a New Zealand Flax stem, the minute Pyrenopeziza arenivaga - also 1st Gloucs. Moral of this story - have a day in the garden, it's amazing what you will find. On a quick trip to Sapperton Woods on Ash I found Hysterium pulicare - unusual and 1st Gloucs. At Newall Park a few uncommon species popped up with Mollisia aquosa and Rosellinia britannica found on Acer branches. Both 1st for Gloucs. Here but on Picea this time a thin (is this worth looking at) resupinate but turned up to be Peniophorella pallida - 1st of most of mid-UK! Whilst waiting for a steam train special to roar by near my local railway line I spotted a small asco on a Acer branch next to the railway line which came out to be Otthia spiraeae. I jumped out of the way in good time. Back at my local patch at Bowbridge on Corylus I saw a small bundle of yellow protruding which I knew I hadn't observed before, this turned into Pezicula corylina - 1st Gloucs/3rd UK!. Back to Ebworth and after watching a mycologist discussing fungi found on various herbivores dung on Zoom, I decided to culture Rabbit and Sheep dung. Quickest up was the delightful spore cannon species Pilobolus umbonatus after 3-days. 6th UK! More followed but will be covered next month as they took longer to emerge. Lastly, back at Ebworth and in amongst the Picea I mentioned earlier found the resupinate Vesculomyces citrinus - 1st Gloucs! They just keep on coming.