Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: OCTOBER 2023 - Uncommon ro rare species recorded this month - without a week away at a BMS event in Yorkshire!

Well October is always the month to look forward to, where you could be out every day and find all manner of fungi growing. I'll start this month with something I recorded last month, but took me a month to decipher what it was! This was an unusual looking crust fungus growing in a fan arrangement from a single stem, with poroid pores at the top and hydnoid spines lower down. In the end discovered this as Oligoporus (was Postia) floriformis, quite rare species and in this case an unusual growth pattern as well. New for Gloucs and most of Mid-England. I like to play with dung culturing and all the delights this brings! This time using Fallow Deer pellets from Cirencester Park again, found after a 6-day culture Coprinellus pusillulus growing. This is one of the smallest and filmiest fungi that can possibly have a long stem and still stand up! Had once before but quite rare, probably because most people think its the same as the more common species that grow together. This is distinctly smaller and with a hair-like stem. Also on the same culture and also new for the County was Trichobolus zukalii - a minute but spiny looking asco, or technically showing off its large setae. Thanks to a sharp eyed participant on a foray at Ebworth NT Estate, a pair of Coprinopsis jonesii were recorded, when at first I had thought these to have been the more common Haresfoot Inkcap. The former is easy to rub off the veil spots on the cap (see pic). I was asked to survey a section of the Cotswold Water Park at Lower Mills and found this to hold exceptional near water species where Alnus and Salix are common. This time I found two unusual Cortinarius species C. alnetorum and C. urbicus, the latter being new for Gloucs. While here a group of gorgeous looking Boletes were found hiding in the undergrowth behind a copse of Alnus trees. This worked out to be Gyrodon lividus - new for East Gloucs, but not west as it seems fairly common in the Forest of Dean (west). Find of the month probably goes to Diana, the delightful dogwalker who pointed out to me a strange looking fungus growing off an ancient Beech tree near Didmorten. The real location was just 300 metres inside Nth Wilts and here was a magnificent Hericium erinaceus (or Lions Mane among others) showing in good health and size. New for me, and for Nth Wilts. Back to Lower Mills and a couple of Fibrecaps kept me awake at nights and these were Inocybe pseudodestricta (1st for Gloucs.) and Mallocybe dulcamara also 1st for Gloucs. At Cirencester Park I picked up Cucumber Cup or Macrocystidia cucumis, this has giant spear shaped cystidia, but leading a foray around Stratford Park for the Stroud Valley Projects Grp, then Hohenbuehelia petaloides were found in abundance on needle litter under a magnificent Cedar of Lebanon tree (my favourite tree). Also nearby was Homophron spadiceum and Hypochnicium cremicolor. Phew what a month, and I didn't add all the eight plus species found new for Yorkshire or beyond where I spent five days with the Brit. Myc. Soc around Scarborough and the various wonderful Dales forests. I need a rest.