Woodwarts on Hazel

 

I found some dead stems in a Hazel stool by the side of the muddy steep slope on the main path round the woods. On this one were some Woodwart looking fungi, apparently quite old and solidified, all along the stem. Judging by the colour and shape I would still say that this was fairly like Hazel Woodwart, Hypoxylon fuscum. I was unable to get any samples for KOH testing. 

 

I think there might be a separate tar crust under the peeling bark. Might be worth peeling back a bit more bark to see if there are any fresh surfaces to examine.

This next one looks different though, blacker and also erupting out of the thin bark. This was found near the Scambles, but fairly near the grass triangle end. Its just got a very different "jizz" to it.

   

A tar crust on Ash - Biscogniauxia petriniae possibly

This is a highly tentative ID. I was having a look at the patch of Ash coppice that as been hard hit by Ash Dieback. All the patches of fruiting body now appear very dessicated and featureless. However when you do look at the last image, which is the only one patch on the whole stem revealing any papillae, it is brownish with slightly papillate perithecia, which fits. I really don't think it is worth trying to extract any pigments! As a cautionary tale, you can get mixed populations of tar crusts on Ash, making things even more complicated. 

 

A tar crust on Beech - Biscogniauxa nummularia, Nemania sp or Diatrype stigma?

What I think is probably a Beech branch on the forest floor, so this could be Biscogniauxia nummularia, a Nemania sp or Diatrype stigma, all quite common tar crusts on this particular tree, although there could also be quite a few others that this could be, mostly in the many Ascomycete Pyrenomyocete fungi. 

On Tuesday, I found a dead dried out Beech tree with a huge streak of a tar crust up its trunk. This would fit with the classic model of Biscogniauxia nummularia, running from the roots upward as seen in Lynne Boddy's paper. In this case it is uncertain whether it is drought, or the death of the tree from another cause, which encouraged this excessive growth and fruiting of the fungus.