The crimped Gill, Plicatura crispa

A lovely spread of brackets by the side of MR 597, possibly on fallen Hazel, Corylus. The blue-grey tinges on the underside of the brackets are obvious from a distance. This species has exploded across the UK since the turn of the century, and no-one seems to know why.

Fruit bodies are generally 1-3 cm in length with bracket-like semi-circular shell shapes. Upper surface is normally concentrically zoned getting paler as it approaches the edge. Underside is made up of pale forked folds, giving a gill-like appearance. It produces white spores.

Plicatura crispa is an effective participant in the initial phase of decay, colonizing predominantly dead branches of deciduous trees (Fagus and Betula) and is associated with a white rot. A few years into the succession of wood decomposition, strong competitors such as Trametes versicolor and the split-gill fungus Schizophyllum commune often displace Plicatura crispa.

It is the ridged margins, rather like the edge of a pie, that accounts for the species’ common name of the Crimped Gill, as well as the second part of its binomial: crispa is the Latin word for curly or crimped (there’s another fungus, the Wood Cauliflower, with the scientific name Sparassis crispa).

Byssocorticium sp, possibly atrovirens

 

The powder-blue of this crust was actually remarkable!

The last log turned over to check for fungi this afternoon showed these patches of this powder-blue(?) delicate and slightly fluffy crust, partly on the decaying leaves pressed to the log's underside rather than the wood itself. The log was certainly well rotted but not yet disintegrating, and most likely to be oak. The blue was greyer in places. The crust resembled one of the three species of Byssocorticium in Hugill and Lucas, possibly atrovirens, but not separable without microscopy of the spores, etc. The colour was really quite impressive and a delightful sight as the light faded, a wonderful end to our afternoon in the local woodland, whatever the species.

The Porcelain Fungus, Oudemansiella mucida

 

Beautiful, due to the purity of its all white colouration; apart from its production of mucus in wet weather! Very young mushrooms are actually off white to pale grey. However, the ochre in the centre of the older caps is also a characteristic feature. 

Strongly linked to older rotting fallen Beech, where it can sometimes be found in large numbers. Toxic to other fungi, and therefore, with Strobilurus tenacellus, the source of synthesised "Strobilurins" the group of agricultural fungicides. 

In this image the host does look rather like oak, on which Oudemansiella is known to be very occasionally found. 

One Beech, home to multitudes

 Here is the tree, such a wonderful sight

A new fungus to me is the Olive Oysterling, Sarcomyxa serotina. Not so commonly found some say, but enthusiasts seem to be able to find it OK. 

Much of the tree was covered in fruiting bodies of Stereum rugosum

There was also Stereum hirsutm 

There was some old Hypoxylon fragiforme, Beech Woodwart fruiting bodies possibly suggesting the tree had been down for a few years. Here they are, mixed with Oysterlings and more Stereum.

At the base was some Smoky Bracket, Bjerkandera adusta, 

and some decrepit Lycoperdon perlatum, Common Puffballs, 

Also some Turkeytail, Trametes versicolor.

And lastly some slime mould fruiting aggregations:

Olive Oyster, Sarcomyxa serotina

 

On the wonderful felled Beech I was so pleased to find the Olive Oyster, Sarcomyxa serotina, which some think of as regularly found, but others regard as uncommon in the UK, There are a few records for Kent and for Wales, so not really worth making too much of a fuss about, but definitely a new one for my own life list.

The etymology is Sarco = flesh, myxa = slime, and finally serotina = late, as in appearing late in the year.

Gilled one sided basidiocarps 1 - 4 inches across, with a very short stipe, often tightly packed, and perhaps distorted in shape as a result. Almost invariably on fallen deciduous trees, such as oak, birch and beech. The cap starts off green or an an olive colour with greenish tints, the underside pale cream or tan with perhaps eventual yellowing as the spores develop and start to be released.  The gills are relatively quite crowded, and the flesh feels distinctly and very obviously rubbery. The cap is finely velvety at first, then smooth, and usually slimy when wet. It usually contains some hint of the greenish or olive colours it is named after. At a later stage I think the fruiting bodies tend towards various browns, and then an overall tan colouration, and the colours are generally variable and rather inconsistent, so not always providing a reliable identification. 

One major distinguishing feature of Sarcomyxa, the Olive Oysterling (it is thought there is only the one species currently found in the UK), as opposed to Panellus the true "Oyster" mushrooms genus, is a relative clear distinction between where the gills stop and the stem surface, an arrangement described perhaps as adnate. In Panellus by contrast the gills tend to run on down the short stem or stipe, sometimes called a nub, in a decurrent fashion. 

This is an image of some fresh Olive Oysters from the Beech tree, very like the usual "classic" depiction of them, although not the basidiocarps that I saw first in the tree. You can see here how they get their name, and quite how attractive they look - in their own way of course. 

These were actually the first basidiocarps that I saw - well past their best, but rather more visible at a distance than the fresh ones, probably largely because their brighter colours contrast so clearly with their substrates and the surroundings.

I twisted one of these fruiting bodies around to show the gilled underside:

And here is a view of some other fruiting bodies at an earlier, intermediate stage I think, with the two uppersides showing some nice colour variation. Note the clear yellow spore-staining on the underside of the other fruiting body near the stipe, quite characteristic of the species.

  

Variable Oysterling in its widest sense, Crepidotus variabilis, s.l.

 

Typically on a relatively small twig, microscopy needed to tie the species down any further.

Possibly Trechispora mollusca on fallen Spruce at Glocaenog Forest

 

This is a bit of a guess, its simply the limited number of whitish poroid resupinates on this host species, as well as the appearance of the pores, which superficially resemble some of the online images of older crusts that I have seen.