Early Nectria on Beech possibly

 

Could this be a Nectria species before it gains any obvious colour? All over the blackened bark of a fallen Beech branch. Or some form of erumpent material, possibly out of a dark brown surface.

closer:

Fox Wood

 

A steady bimble up the Fox Wood path, with lots and lots of Stereum hirsutum and several bleeding Stereum spp to puzzle over. I revisited the log with Stereum subtomentosum on it.

I found some green-grey possibly decaying patches of a thin crust, easily detached and apparently finely textured. I think these may have been old patches of Byssomerulius corium. 

Just by the car park one of the Hazels was showing interest - Warlock's Butter I think, one of the two Rusty Pore-Crust species, Fuscoporia ferrea or Fuscoporia ferruginea, and a thin black crust with parallel cracking - unknown of course. The Fuscoporia was sticking a dead branch to a live one.

A wander through the coppice stools and the "Ash patch".

Peniophora cinerea perhaps, a more-or-less featureless thin grey patchy crust on Sweet Chestnut.

An old Hazel (?) stick by the path down by the Spruce with lots of Plicatura crispa had a very waxy fairly thick off-white crust rolling back the bark. A fallen Birch stem with a Fomes fomentarius bracket on it.  

Lots of Schizopora paradoxa around generally. 

The Ash in "the patch" is looking very dead-twiggery with a few nearly dead and some dead stems. One partly fallen trunk with very little root around the base. 

Some suspected Stereum rugosum or Stereum subtomentosum. 

Some Stereum hirsutum resupinate patches showing more clearly orange on a dead stem.

A large covering of a thin crust of possible Schizopora paradoxa on the trunk of a largely fallen Spruce tree. 

Suspected Hymenochaete corrugata asexual stage on Hazel stems where the path comes out - some light brown mycelial bodies and some with a blackened surface. An almost toothed (corrugated?) surface visible on the younger body.

Up to Clearhedges and Byssomerulius corium

Walked up through the equine unit as far as the Clearhedges Wood path entrance and I was worried to see white crosses on some of the Oak trees by the eastern side of the track. I am not sure who owns these trees - or why they might be intended to be felled.

As I left the muddy track before the large puddle I found a fallen branchlet with several patches of what initially looked like a white poroid resupinate. When I got it home it turned out to be a thin wrinkled corticioid resupinate, which looked rather like the image of Byssomerulius corium, the Netted Crust, possibly at a rather white early stage.

One feature was the ease with which the fruiting body could be removed from the substrate. The edges spontaneously curled up as it dried. Also the ripples flattened considerably over time.

The crusts appeared very white upon finding, but showed a slight tan tinge and may have turned creamier as they dried.

Through the Scambles

Blackened but swollen not dried out Jelly Ear, Auricularia auricula-judae on the Hairy Curtain Crust Oak by the car park 

Walked along the eastern border and found some nice crusts. There was a spot where you enter the Yews before the beech clearing. Looked like some dried out auburn coloured crusts on the Hazel on the left with a lot of Fuscoporia on the Hornbeam. 

Some great Exidia glandulosa ( = truncata) in really good condition on Hazel, Witches' Butter, by the stream at the start of the scambles near the main path, top surface with warted surface and a velvety reverse side, as in the photos below.  

Showing the velvety reverse of the fruit body, bit also the thin greyish crust next to it.

On the same (?) Hazel, there were some really great reddening Stereum, possibly Stereum rugosum. 

On the underside of a fallen Spruce trunk in the Scambles. No idea on this one.

A closer view:

Along the boundary path at the edge of the Scambles by three oaks just before the stream there was a fallen branch, now broken into sections, with a very impressive covering of Stereum, this time probably Stereum gausapatum, partly forming narrow caps on either side (semi-pileate?). Note the pale margin in places, contrasting with the stronger central colours. There may be older, duller, crust colour to the bottom right?

It had a clearly felty upperside, behind the leading edge, perhaps surprisingly so! The edge itself is quite serrated, is in "gausapatum".

Apparently orbicular patches becoming confluent:

See the fimbriate edge below?

Trametes versicolor

 

An interesting find today of the Many-zoned Polypore or "Turkeytail", Trametes versicolor L. ex Fr., on the loose old stump from the felled Ash tree by the A26 opposite the college front lawn. This is one of the many common colour variants seen in Geoffrey Kibby's book, a dark centre to the cap, with a clear whitish edge. The hairy and smooth zones are however obviously very narrowly zonate. The hymenial surface is a creamy white. A fairly impressive sight overall in my view. 

The brackets here look "fresh", a bit swollen and jelly-like rather than "thin". However there are many pictures of the brackets looking just like this, certainly well before the larvae of the Small Fungus Beetles, the family Cisidae beetles such as Cis boleti start to get at them, hungrily eating out the hymenial pore layers, leading the upper surface, the cap cuticle, looking dried out and curling over. The bracket structure is trimictic, rather tough for other weaker beetle larvae to eat into. 

According to FTE, the favoured host in the nemoral regions of this bracket is Beech, but this isn't backed up in any of the UK books. However, most sources do seem to agree that stumps are very much favoured! There is also a consistent view that this is one of the commonest fungi seen in Europe. Sort of strange that I don't see more of it.  

Should have about (3)4-5 pores per mm. 

I think this is perhaps developing Exidia nigricans ( = Exidia plana) known as Warlock's Butter. However I'll have to go back to collect some to see if I can really tell it apart from Exidia glandulosa (=Exidia truncata), also known as Witches' Butter. Mixed woodland near Tonbridge.