Crusts in Fox Wood

 

This waxy looking surface on a dead oak branch of a tree on the north boundary of Fox Wood among the line of Hornbeams suggests the decorticating fruiting body (basidiome) of the "crust fungus" Vuilleminia comedans (s.l.). It is described as soft, jelly-like and slippery. There are several photos on the internet showing this sort of colouring and thickness of the basidiome, as opposed to the translucent and very thin layers of the (apparently?) early stages. Presumably we are not talking about a parasitisation by a Hypomyces species? 

The decortication seems very effective, allowing the basidiome to release its basidiospores and presumably colonise new "branch territory"! This species is said to be widespread and very common, so I obviously need to look for it more effectively. I imagine it is recycling the nutrients back into the leaf litter, perhaps ultimately for the tree's benefit. 

There were extensive growths of Schizopora paradoxa on some of the dead trunks of Hornbeam:

and a closer view of the above:

This next should be Eichleriella now Heteroradulum deglubens, despite being found on Birch. 

A good pinky tinged crust with a white margin on first sight, it blushes instantly to a dark red when rubbed - and also has bluish patches, as stated in Hugill and Lucas. Not commonly photographed in the FB groups at all despite its attractiveness, in my opinion.

Phlebia uda KOH test

I went back to Fox Covert and retrieved a section of the branch with suspected Phlebia uda fruiting bodies on it from last week.

I applied 4% KOH to the crust surface after a few hours drying of the branch (will return it to the woods tomorrow). Label 1 is the area of crust surface where the chemical was applied, it fairly rapidly turned dark (little bit purple) brown, and the "teeth" appeared to collapse. Label 2 was a couple of adjacent areas where the chemical soon appeared to produce a sort of cherry colour, still apparently dry and without any tooth collapse. It wasn't the completely iconic purple on h ttps://www.crustfungi.com/html/species/mycoacia-uda.html

Area 3 is one area of unaffected dry spiny crust for comparison. So that seems to fit with expectations? Oddly, rubbing the crust surface with a (sweaty) finger seemed to produce a similar cherry colour, quite quickly, which I haven't heard of before.

I shall have to do some microscopy!

Mycoacia or Phlebia uda, Jackrogersella, etc.

 

Steccherinum ochraceum possibly

 

Oval patches along a fallen log most likely presumed to be oak or beech. Well defined white margin, central area very matt from a distance ochre to orange-yellow.

Sulphur Tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare

 Sulphur Tuft:

This species is really quite toxic - the bitter taste when raw is rather deceptively lost upon cooking - but the toxins are definitely not!

One of the very common mushrooms found growing on tree bases and fallen wood, characterised by yellowish caps with a paler rim and with the yellowish stems blending with an orange brown base. The purple-brown spores gradually turn the gills from yellow to a striking green. Watch out for the related species, Hypholoma capnioides, found on conifer stumps, whose gills gradually turn greyish rather than greenish.

The genus Hypholoma is characterised by the web-like threads connecting the cap with the stem that can be seen when young.

This group of Sulphur Tufts in Dene Park developed in less than a week on this particular log by the side of the track.

One advantage Hypholoma fasciculare. has is its ability to form tubes that can allow rapid spread to new sources of nutrition. It releases super-oxides and laccases to attack the mycelium of other species of wood-inhabiting fungi as well as the lignin in the wood itself.

It is a saprobic white rotter which might have some more significance in beech but rot than previously thought. 

Might have potential for a new antibiotic as well.

Dene Park

 

Had a nice walk around the near side of Dene Park, and found a few signs of fungi. Here is a rather variable crust, whitish but perhaps with yellow-greenish tinges. These really are almost impossible to identify without microscopy. Here the crust can look quite solidly consistent in places, less so on some edges.

  

This is the log in context,

This might perhaps be Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor, but I forgot to look at the underside to check for the pores. 

This on the other hand should be the Hairy Curtain Crust, Stereum hirsutum, in one of its slightly yellow form. 

And this should be Snowy Disco, Lachnum virgineum, next to a more delicate looking crust, on the underside of a small log in the front Beech compartment.

This is some sort of tar spot, erupting through the bark of a small Birch log.

  

Quarry Wood

 

It was great to find some good veteran trees on the KWT walk at their Quarry Wood reserve today.seems to be a good fungal site as well. 

This first Beech was the star and we spent a lot of time chatting about veteran trees at this spot. Its a fine tree and would perhaps stand up as just an impressive notable tree if it were not the suggestion of a hollowing trunk from the impressive numbers of fruiting bodies of the Southern Bracket, Ganoderma australe, around the base of, the trunk. Coupled with the size, 4.88 m, I personally think this makes it a veteran. Opinions may differ and on size alone according to ATF criteria you would perhaps consider it a young ancient tree. However I will err on the side of caution, and stick to veteran. 

 

While waiting to get walking, I did get to look at the Sweet Chestnut leaves and for a change I did find some evidence of likely leaf-miners. This first is the commoner and paler species of Tischeria currently found on Sweet Chestnut in this country, Tischeria ekabladella. The adult micro-moth flies in May and June, and the larval stages occur on Oak and Sweet Chestnut (visibly) from September or October.The frass is ejected from the mine through a slit cut in the upper surface, leaving the blotch mine rather obviously whitish on the top surface of the leaves . The larva overwinters and then eventually pupates in the discoid case constructed inside the mine.