First two compartments

 

In the first compartment I picked up this broken up Russula, which might have been Russula ochroleuca, the very common Ochre Brittle Gill. The macro-chemicals didn't exactly as expected however, with the Guiac going Blue-Green, but the Iron going maybe pink-gray but then dark grey. In addition, the gills when crushed, smelt like rotten fish I thought. So, as usual, no firm answer - but it looked like the Ochre, and I have seen several rather similar ones in the past. I did eventually agree there were some greenish tinges and possibly some darker ochre spots. It is also on the Pitt/Weightman list.

In the Beech compartment there was a Ramaria species, which could have been Ramaria stricta. It was a bit discoloured buff, and I thought it smelt very strongly aromatic, possibly of aniseed. Ramaria stricta is said to only smell slightly of aniseed. Paula didn't pick up anything at all. About 5 minutes after giving it a good squeeze, the wine-red colour was fairly clear. However it can't be identified with any certainty anyway.  

It seemed to be closer to the Sweet Chestnut and Hornbeams than to the Beech downhill. 

Looks like a wood-eating Mycena, possibly Mycena inclinata although the foot wasn't very woolly. It might also be Mycena arcangeliana but I couldn't smell the iodine aroma that is supposed to be characteristic.

My first sighting this year of Plicaturopsis crispa, the Crimped Gill, new to the UK but spreading remarkably and now very common.

Common fungi in Dene Park

 

Buttercap - note the woolly foot.

Clouded Funnel - surprisingly dramatically curled up when older!

Wood Blewit, Lepista nuda, lovely to see!

Stagshorn, Calocera viscosa 

Candlesnuff, Xylaria hypoxylon

Unknown Bonnet, Mycena

Beacon Wood with the Kent Field Club

The group found several individual fruiting bodies of the yellow Tricholoma associated with Aspen and maybe other Populus species, Tricholoma frondosae. Other trees have also been linked as ectomycorrhizal partners, but the group seemed to think the Aspen link was the most important. This also looks very like the Tricholoma equestre associated with Pines and other conifers, and they were thought to be just one joint species until 2001. Note the scales?

Phlebia tremellosa - note the spiky and often pale edge and perhaps just the start of the wiggly folds:

And here the spiky hairs are far more fully developed

Phlebia radiata, on Birch. Orange (not pale), unfringed edge helps to distinguish it

A fairly typical showing of old Datronia or now Podofomes mollis. Should bruise brown and also cutting should show a dark line between the fungus and substrate. 

This is one of the more identifiable Bonnets, Mycena pseudocorticola, the Steely Bonnet, not uncommon on moss-covered trees apparently.

This is a very large Mycena galericulata - see the cross-linking between the veins:

Ascocoryne sarcoides, s.l. inc cylichnium

Chlorociboria aeruginascens s.l. inc aeruginosa. Unusual on Birch I believe

Some areas of the park are covered in Cladonia, Reindeer Moss

List of Boletes

 

Boletus edulis - Cep - at Plodda Falls and 

Caloboletus radicans - Rooting Bolete - with Oak at Dene Park and Mote Park

Imleria badius - Bay Bolete - with Western Hemlock at Snipe Wood

Neoboletus praestigiator - at Dunorlan Park

Suillelus queletii - at Tudeley Woods

Tylopilus felleus - Bitter Bolete - at Ightham Mote 

Suillus bovinus - Bovine Bolete - with Pine at Plodda Falls and Tudeley Woods

Suillus collinitus - with Pine at Monkton reserve with KFC

Suillus grevillei - Larch Bolete - with Larch at Tomich and Snipe Wood with KFC

Xerocomus chrysonemus?

Hortiboletus rubellus - Ruby Bolete - near Oak at Dunorlan

Xerocomellus chrysenteron - Red Cracking Bolete - 

Xerocomellus pruinatus - Matte Bolete at Snipe Wood

Leccinum auriantiacum? - with Oak? at Tudeley Wood

Leccinum duriusculum - Hever Castle

Leccinum versipelle - with Birch at Tudeley? and Snipe Wood

Leccinum scabrum - with Birch at Tudeley and Snipe Woods 

Hever Castle - The Slate Bolete, Leccinum duriusculum

Just across the flat bridge in front of the main entrance to the castle itself there was a bank with a range of oaks and two Populus species. Under them were a couple of Leccinum fruiting bodies, so my first thought was the Slate or Poplar Bolete, Leccinum duriusculum, and I think I was able to more or less confirm that, once I got it home.

 One factor that threw me a bit was the nut-brown of the pilei, less usual for this species I think, as greys or lighter browns are often mentioned but this brown is still seen in a number of credible images. It is also worth noting that we are now in October, the end of the season for this particular Bolete, and perhaps this has some sort of impact.

The surface of the stipe was white, but fairly nearly completely covered with blackish squamules. 

The tubes and pores were buff coloured, at least by now. These contrasted with the initial white of the flesh, both of the cap and the stipe. Once cut, the flesh of the main upper part of the stipe slowly (6 minutes onwards) turned the expected violaceous-black, so that should rule out the look-alike Leccinum scabrum.

There was a hint of blue in the dark grey of the broken base of the stipe, and then about 12 hours after cutting a small clear blue patch appeared temporarily (see last photo, above), but no more than that. Rather more concerning maybe was no obvious sign of the intermediate pink that Andy Overall and others report before the dark grey takes over in the upper parts, but there was perhaps the tiniest hint of pink and of course it did look "violaceous", not just grey, so perhaps that is more of a variation in timing - hopefully. Factors that reassured me were the very obvious "solid" nature of the stipes noted as I picked the specimen and also I think the caps, the creamy colour of the pores and tubes contracting with the pure white of the flesh of both the cap and stipe. together with the grey colour of the damaged pores as opposed to the "tea" presumably browner, colour expected for Leccinum scabrum. 

Dene Park to the SW of Hunters' Lodge

 

I checked the car-park Pine Log for the developing fruiting body, and found a previously unseen white bracket which apps said were a Postia, So it ought to be Postia stiptica or Postia tephraleuca.

Just before I reached the frontage of Hunters Lodge, two fruiting bodies of what I thought might have been Caloboletus radicans, close to a semi-mature oak on the edge of the wood - it certainly tasted bitter, no red layer below the pileus as in C. and not as red-tinged as in C. calopus found with Beech and conifers (occasionally Oak), so the commonest option seems to be the most likely as so often happens. 

However, there does seem to be an issue with the red reticulum on the stem. Although there are plenty of images like this claiming to be the Rooting Bolete online, it does need checking against the other group of boletes in case there is an error here.

In the wood section to the NW of Hunters Lodge there were 3 or more Parasols, Macrolepiota procera, under the Yews if under any particular trees at all, but surrounded by Oak, Hornbeam and near Common Laurel. 

On a couple of logs there were multiple creamy partly zonate brackets with somewhat lumpy and a bumpy hairy upper surfaces and very long mazelike pores on the underside, so at first I thought possibly Trametes gibbosa, the Lumpy Bracket itself. I didn't think it was the Blushing Bracket, because it was not on Willow, was not zonate enough, and didn't blush (admittedly it was old though). Also not the Oak Mazegill, because not on Oak, not with the characteristic deep belly of the Daedalea and the pores just didn't look right. But still to be proven I believe! The underside was actually gill-like enough to suggest Birch Mazegill, Lenzites (now Trametes again?) betulinus! And that I am now nearly sure is what it is! The fallen trunk was most likely Sycamore or Horse Chestnut, but apparently that is still just possible. 

Interesting rounded particles of "debris". I certainly need to come back to this one!

The characteristic underside, under room and phone lights together, so a little bit yellow

By the side of the gravelled drive two Shaggy Inkcaps, Coprinus comatus, were rushing through their brief existences  

By the gateway a couple of Common Puffballs, Lycoperdon

Outside the wood in the grassland to the north of the car park, there were about 5 nice Blushers, Amanita rubescens.

And also two nice chunky salmon-coloured Russulas! Sadly not identified.