Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: January 2025

Well December saw the basidocarp fungi disappear even more quickly than expected this year, add to that my Central System went down over Christmas as well as my 3-toothed bridge dropping out at the same time, it was a great month! I was going to be able to report the results of a new Inocybe for the UK, until I found two reports in BMS Update! Again this has happened too often and why new species reports that appear in Update are then NOT entered in FRDBI is highly frustrating and shows no respect for the database itself by the very people that created it. A few new species also for Gloucs, and a collection of interesting fungi made what could have been a dull month into something more exciting. The Inocybe was found in October in Cirencester Park under Picea, and having keyed this out to be Inocybe jucunda, I was able to get this sequenced and had this confirmed at 99.34% as one and the same. So that was very pleasing. As I mentioned before two other sequenced records were found - eventually, not of such good quality, so thanks again to David Harries and his team for their help. Also at this location interesting species such as Atractosporocybe inornata was identified, with just a few other county records, a single example poking out of Fagus leaf debris. Resupinates here were Athelia acrospora (2nd Gloucs and most of western England) with extraordinary candelabra basidia, Tomentellopsis echinospora (3rd for Gloucs), along with Botryobasidium vagum on Picea, 5th record for the county. While here I just about recognised a single long stemmed/rooting off a Picea cone as Auriscalpium vulgare, with clearly observed pale buff spines. Another resupinate this time at my old hunting ground at Ebworth NT Estate found Xylodon brevisetus on Picea. At a visit to a new location near Tarlton Downs a waxy olive/brown resupinate in Sebacina epigaea was on Oak, with Leptosphaeria ogilviensis also on Oak, and 3rd record for Gloucs. Lastly, at a trip out to West Gloucs. near Whitminster at Moreton Valence church and on Salix, Patellaria atrata, now renamed Lecanidion atratum was identified which has unusual 10 septa spores. This would be the 1st Gloucs. record.