Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds: May 2026

This month includes a few virtually new species for the UK but are hyphomycetes, one of the least recorded classes of fungi. As the many species I have found over the years the excitement of finding something new evaporates quickly when you know not many people are looking for or recording these types of fungus. A pity really, as they can be quite easy sometimes to identify as they are normally very different from each other and have unique growth factors. So first up is one, this was found on dead needles of Douglas Fir in Cirencester Park. It appears that the local conservation foresters had been busy and had tried to take out most of the infected needle growth. One was Allantophomopsiella pseuodotsugae (try saying that after two whiskeys!) showing unusual conidiophores in blocks. 2nd record UK. Another would be Nothophaeocryptopus gaeumannii (try saying that after one whiskey!) again on needles (3rd UK record) followed by the reddening Rhabdocline pseudotsugae, (again 3rd record UK). Still with the same trees, then an resupinate in Aphanobasidium pseudotsugae was found the whole length under one cut down trunk showing sub-amygdaliform spores, something normally associated with Cortinarius or Hebeloma species. Few other Gloucs records. A visit to Westonbirt Arboretum on Pinus was a bluish/grey cottony resupinate became Arachnocrea stipata, but I saw no spiders. Interestingly this species has the unusual split spores of two identical triangles, easily disturbed when observing. Also here but on a woodchip/soil mix was a solitary Pluteus podospileus basidiocarp, with pleurocystidia and very tight free stem apex, unlike most others of this genus. A visit to Westridge Woods near Wooton-under-Edge for some time showed a recently devasted area of larch had been cut with wood debris everywhere. Good for me in some respects but hard to understand why this had happened. On the common resupinate Skeletocutis vulgaris I found lots of another hypho. Cheiromycella microscopia. 2nd Gloucs. Also on larch was Lachnellula resinaria with a few other records for Gloucs. I had found an unusual ascomycete in my back garden on dead mint stems in early February and it took me some time to work this out and now newly recognised as Fusarium sambucinum (was Gibberella pulicaris). This has unusual 1-3 septate spores with the excipulum bluing even in water. 1st Gloucs record. A trip to NW Devon was necessary to visit my sister in hospital and stayed at the Caesar's Inn, Barnstaple. No casino, so went looking for fungi in the delightful garden full of different tree types. On a single stem of Rubus fruticosus I eventually worked out Didymosphaeria oblitescens (10th UK record) which has wonderful finely verrucose spores with a single heavy constricted septa. Also here was a hypho. in Endophragmia pinicola on Pinus needles. Also on these needles was Gremmenia infestans also known as Snow Mould, oddly given a common name with only this record in the UK. I must have the wrong species or something?! Also here was another hypho. Solicorynespora foveolata on Pseudosasa japonica (Bamboo). 4th Uk record. At Flisteridge Woods (Wilts) I found the miniscule discomycete Hyaloscypha quercicola - 1st for Wilts although recorded before in Gloucs a few times. Also Stomiopeltis betulae, 3rd for Wilts. Exploring a new woody glade at Bushy Grove near the River Severn and with oak growing in good numbers I found Mollisia olivascens on a rotten oak branch. This species has very hairy flanks and can almost be identified visually.