Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: December 2024

November continued to be a barren month, as has been most of this Autumn, more so than many, many years of late. We all know why, but no-one I know disagrees that fungi failed to turn up this year as you would expect. Is it too much rain, too early, too hot at a certain time, carbon related, etc? Either way I noticed around just two weeks in October were anything like previous years. Let's hope next year changes. However, I still managed to identify a new discomycete for the UK, more of which comes later. I found a few interesting species still in November from my BMS trip into The Forest of Dean. The first was an uninspiring Hebeloma which appeared at first to be like all common species of this genus. This one under microscopy provided cheilocystidia, spores and macro features to a safe deduction of Hebeloma ebuneum. What is surprising is that this has only one other UK record - mine! Worrying! However, nothing else fits and I stick with what I see, not what might be, and so that's it! I also provide the evidence in the record depository at FRDBI for all to exam, which has the capability of response. 95% of all records on FRDBI do not provide evidence at all, which I find worrying, especially when records were recorded, or the substrate that was found at the time. Moving on - the other species was found back at Highnam Woods (out of FoDean) which to me was a rare Cortinarius ominosus at Newent Woods. This would be 3rd in UK! and takes me back to my previous statement. The spores were too large and with a more prominent umbo, blackening stem in KOH, singular and so the common look-a-like C. semisanguineus went out the window. I wouldn't be surprised that within the many visual only records for the latter, there are lots of the former, so not making the former so rare. At my favourite, 'help where do I go its so bad' location, Cirencester Park came up as usual with a few interesting species. On a stack of grass mulch but protected from the weather within woodland I found Narcissea patouillardii, although not that uncommon. A couple of resupinates turned out to be Vesiculomyces citrinus (on Larix) but the third time I have found this in Gloucs., so now 3rd record for the county! Also Ceraceomyces crispatus which has verticillate clamps, this being 2nd for Gloucs. My first visit to the village of Edgeworth provided Cristinia helvetica but on Laural, so a nice surprise. A short run around my local patch just down from Waitrose, the local nature group Stroud Valley Projects had been working hard again and had cleared away a lot of bramble etc., leaving access to old herb stems and twigs. On Ash, I found at home after careful study (they all look the same) Cistella geelmuydenii, new for me and 2nd in the county. A stroll around Minchinhampton Common for any leftover waxcaps didn't show anything unusual, however a small basidiocarp growing close to an Oak tree made me thing again that it was different from all the other LBJ's you would see in grasslands. With unusual cheilocystidia and capitate tips and caulocystidia it became Pholiotina brunnea - new for Gloucs. Lastly, after dropping my wife off for her hair cut/dye which takes almost 2hrs (mine takes 2 mins! - see the photo!) I use this time to whip around local small habitats I haven't visited before. At Box woods, very close to the Art Workshop I attend each week, I came across a few species growing on an rotting Corylus branch. One of which was a resupinate which I studied later at home. It wasn't until I looked closer than I found at around 0.3mm apothecia growing through Hyphodontia alutaria, a common resp. with hydnoid surface (upright spines of cystidia). Under microscopy this turned into Dactylospora stygia var. striata. This is now been renamed as Sclerococcum stygium only! No variant for the UK. Well here it is folks! The spores have finely striated spores with a thick septa, easily seen at 1000x, and also retain this feature inside the ascus. Acknowledged by Hans-Otto Baral ... one of the top mycologists in this class of fungi in Europe. So new for UK? One day maybe. :-)