Tony Hardware's Fungi Finds

Tuesday, 4 November 2025

OCTOBER 2025 - Uncommon to rare species recorded this month.

October is usually the busiest month of the year for fungi and so it proved this year especially as the rains came back after a miserable dry summer. It is though all fungi sighed with relief and decided to all grow out all at the same time. I have excluded a week's visit to Dumfries in the early part of the month which I will cover in a separate blog. A return visit to Flisteridge Woods in North Wilts, twice in fact as I now realise what a wonderful site this is as the soil seems more acidic here than back in the deepest Cotswolds. Cortinarius nigrocuspidatus was a nice find and with only 19 other UK records. All Cortinarius need careful examination, and often have to resort to relying on its macro and spores only. I think that all Cortinarius should have a detailed cuticle identification library, added to gill edge cheilocystidia descriptions, if any, even down to Basidia detail, then life would be easier for all. Someone else of course! Fungi of Switzerland by Breitenbach/Kranzlin gets close, but often neglects British species and is now a little out of date with it's taxonomy. Also here by the path-side were a few Clitocybe lookalikes which didn't look that interesting until I stopped to check. These turned out to be Omphalina mutila, the first time I have seen this genus and 1st for Wilts. This also became my lifetime 1,700 species I have recorded since starting off with Sulphur Tuft in my local woods! Pholiotina lenta was a solitary specimen as was Russula clavipes, which took some time to evaluate. 3rd and 1st for Wiltshire respectively. A short visit to Painswick Beacons where Pinus grows by the Golf Course, I found Hebeloma subtortum which would be 3rd for the UK but only 2nd for Gloucs! Again difficult but detail counts and the courage to state what you see. Also here was Inosperma cericolor and with few other records in Gloucs. At Cirencester Park I found an unusual Russula, R. torulosa - this being within a genus I don't find often in the Cotswolds and never have understood why. I'm sure it has to do with the soil type laid within limestone which Russula just doesn't like. This was on soil with grasses/dicots mix and close to a young Larix. Oak was 5 metres away. Inocybe posterula also found here, and 3rd for Gloucs after my 2nd! Unusually growing within a rotting grass heap was Pholiota lenta, perhaps somewhere within it still hung on to wooden debris. On a separate rotted grass mound which I have looked at for 2 years, and was now almost flat except for a large Melanoleuca sps growing up out of the now visible soil. This is now recognised as M. friesii (was M. robusta which I prefer). Few other records in Gloucs. I found my first clump of Sparassis crispa under Picea here also, not that uncommon but I have never found it before. On the 21st Oct I visited under invitation to Exmoor Zoological Park in Devon for a few hrs survey of their site. Most good fungi were no where near the compounds but were in other remote sections of the zoo no one ever goes to! One was a trench which David Attenborough would have thought twice about traversing which no doubt has a gushing stream at other times but I found all sorts of wonderful fungi here. One was Entoloma politum. Close by what is considered a new species of late which I believe to be Neoboletus immatatus showing bright yellow in the base, and maintaining yellow when drying. A staff member handed me a very ordinary Psathyrella type specimen found with the 'Tapirs' but fortunately I still checked it and turned into Psilocybe turficola, this being the 2nd UK record. The spores don't lie. Lastly, Russula laccata was found at the very bottom of their site in a small Nature Reserve with a stream/Salix. Tasting some of these Russulas this month lost my tongue and lips to taste for a few days!! I also looked as though I had a 'lip job' in Bulgaria. Some very acrid. Occupational hazard. I see a new electronic devise has been invented for curry eaters that can identify 'hotness' to a very accurate level without tasting it yourself. I wonder ....!! A hectic month.

Cortinarius nigrocuspidatus

Hebeloma subtortum

Inocybe posterula

Inosperma cervicolor caulocystidia

Inosperma cervicolor cheilo.

Inosperma cervicolor

Melanoleuca friesii cheilo

Melanoleuca friesii

Omphalina mutila

Pholiota lenta

Pholiotina arrhenii

Russula clavipes

Russula torulosa

Sparassis crispa

Entoloma politum

Neoboletus immatatus

Psilocybe turficola

Russula laccata

Thursday, 2 October 2025

SEPTEMBER 2025 - Uncommon to rare species recorded.

We were all blessed with rain and more rain early in the month, which as you would expect at last woke up fungi so much so it all came at once! Found all sorts of unusual species, focussing for a change on basidiomycetes. First up was a delightful vertical growing poroid fungus found inside an ancient beech tree in Cirencester Park. This being Fibropia vaillantii, new for the County. Also here on an old grass dump I found Panaeolus cinctulus, not that uncommon but not many records in Gloucs. Within the Spruce woodland at Chedworth I found Infundibulicybe squamulosa (funnel type mushroom) with an excessive floccose stem - again uncommon. A few tiny fungi or LBJ's (little brown jobs) turned out to be Flammulaster limulatus and 3rd record for the county. At my local Stratford Park, walking distance from Tescos! I spent a few minutes by the pond in deep undergrowth but the rains had done the trick and found Resupinatus trichotis, a bracket like fungus but isn't, has gills and is distinctive due to the black attachment to the wood. A lovely Pholiota adiposa was found at Capel's Mill pathway with Corylus. 4th record for Gloucs. Two more Pholiotina species were found at my old hunting ground at Climperwell Woods, being P. striipes, which has only 19 other UK records and P. vexans, with being the 3rd Gloucs. I have found a new woodland which must be North Wilts best kept secret, so don't tell anybody!! By chance on my OS map the area looking nice and flat, so when arriving was astonished to find an untouched easy access Oak/Birch filled woodland brimming with fungi at Flisteridge Woods. The most important was found trackside just yards from my car and looking very uninteresting and boring as Conecaps can, at home discovered Conocybe inocybeoides, which has only 13 other UK records. Perhaps because it looks dull and boring. It is also very poisonous so glad I didn't do any tasting. Also here I was happy to see five species of Russula, mostly common but all the same I rarely see these in Gloucs. Never know why except I think the soil content is different with Limestone and they just don't like it. One became R. graveolens, after the usual checks with chemicals and peel back etc. Later on another trip had my first Cortinarius for the year with C. glandicolor, 4th for Wilts. Also another Pholiotina dasypus was discovered under the scope at home. 15th UK record! Time for a well earned break after both of us have overcome illness and ended up at an Inn north of Bakewell in the Derbyshire Dales. Delightful. Even better the Inn had ancient oak woodland all around it and off I went! Pholiota limonella was a solitary find and would be 1st for Derbys. Also 1st would be Entoloma lividoalbum, lots of them by a stone wall path deep in oak forest. Lastly, (it was a good month) in Hailey's Woods nr Cirencester I found a few specimen's of the rare Lepiota forquiguonii. The best would be finding a single Inosperma mushroom, which I knew at the time would be special as never seen before. I got this down to Inosperma kuthanii, with only 8 other UK records, most of which are apparently dubious. However, the macro colouring, odour and gill edge is totally different to its nearest so called synonym I. cookei, and I am hoping to get this sequenced asap.