Love of Nature, Natural History, Nature Reserves

Fabulous fungus Foray in Chiswick!

LWT Conservation Officer Netty Ribeaux and mushroom expert Alick Henrici briefing the early arrivals
Collared Earthstar

Well, here is the list that I wrote down as we went round. I’m sure that Alick Henrici who was leading the group named more species than this, and he also declined to name several difficult species which he collected in his little box to take for analysis back at Kew by his colleague Geoffrey Kibbey! Still, the fact that the group found so many – and there was no doubt at all that having more pairs of eyes resulted in more finds – was surprising to most people present. We walked anticlockwise around the reserve, and found the species in the order shown.

Hypholoma fasciculare, the very common but pretty yellow Sulphur Tuft, on a loggery near the start of the walk. It’s always on rotting wood.

Trametes (Coriolus) versicolor, the Turkeytail, a very common but elegant little bracket, forming troops on fallen branches and logs. The name Coriolus seems like the Coriolis effect that makes storms whirl around, and it does have a whirly effect on its patterned top surface.

Stereum hirsutum, another very common species, the Hairy Curtain Crust or False Turkeytail, forms a white crust on logs, its top gently velvety (hence ‘hirsutum’, hairy), with no pores

An Ascomycete, a spore-shooting fungus with its spores 4 in a row under the microscope, forming firm little brown balls on logs.

Schizopora paradoxa, thin white layer on logs

Piptoporus betulinus, the Birch Polypore or Razorstrop Fungus – when dried it was used to put a polish on the old Sweeney Todd the Barber type of cutthroat razor! Finding it is practically guaranteed on dead Birch wood, standing or fallen.

Fruiting bodies of a slime mould (not a typical fungus)

A slime mould, forming small squashy grey-brown blobs on rotting logs.

Laxitextum bicolor – you saw it here first! The name bicolor means coloured differently on the top and bottom – as you can see, the underside is very pale, the top a rich dark brown with a creamy edge.

Dark trooping bracket Laxitextum bicolor, new to UK in last 5 years, first record from Gunnersbury Triangle today! Alick said it seemed to be making itself quite at home, and indeed while those of us who recognise a few of the common brackets couldn’t have placed this species, we’d never have guessed it was brand new.

Ramariopsis subtilis (Clavariaceae), a small white Coral fungus with antler-like branches
Lycoperdum perlatum, the common Puffball, here very ripe and ready to puff spores at the slightest touch

Lycoperdum perlatum, the common Puffball. Alick told us the marvellously funny etymology of the name: Lykos is Greek for wolf, perdon for fart, and perlatum is Latin for pearly, meaning the surface decoration. Perhaps the puff of brown spores when you touch an old specimen is the wolf’s fart, who knows.

Mycena spp.

Ganoderma adspersum, Southern bracket, a round solid plate of a fungus, hard as nails, growing on a Willow stump
Russula sp., a colourful Brittlegill (yes, the caps are fragile, but distinctively thick). There are lots of species in greys, yellows, reds, pinks, and purples. This one has been nibbled by slugs. Some people eat them but there are some red species called Sickeners, definitely not a good idea.

Tricholoma album

Otidea alutacea, the tan ear (related to O. onotica, the hare’s ear), a small fungus of bare ground. Notethe birch leaf for size.

Hebeloma sp., a Poisonpie toadstool

Cortinarius sp. (Webcaps), subgenus Telamonia, a very difficult group, separated by DNA analysis. Into Alick’s box it went!

Geastrum triplex, the Collared Earthstar (photo at top), a really handsome and uncommon fungus. We seem to be getting it every year here now, a delight. Alick has found 3 species of Earthstar here in Gunnersbury Triangle.

Melanoleuca sp., a cavalier mushroom

Tricholoma cf fulvum, the Birch Knight mushroom. Fulvum means tawny yellow, and yes, it’s always with Birch trees.
Ramaria Coral fungus growing on a several-year-old logpile, dark and damp. Looks close to R. stricta, the upright coral, in the book but there are numerous species, not all illustrated there.

Clavaria sp., a small species of club fungus

Armillaria mellea, the Honey Fungus, a dangerous parasite of trees, and it continues to flourish as a saprophyte after they are dead, rotting their wood. Its English name is for its warm honey colour. It can be eaten but who’d want to.

GT Mycena olida (always on moss), a tiny species also called the Rancid Bonnet, best recognised by its habitat!

Mycena archangeliana

Laccaria amethystina, the Amethyst Deceiver, quite a beautiful colour in the grass; it fades when dried.

We saw no fewer than 3 species of Deceiver, including Laccaria laccata, the (common) Deceiver, as well as the two illustrated here. The group is well named; beginners collect handfuls of interesting-looking mushrooms of all different shapes, sizes, and appearances, and are crestfallen to discover they’re all the same species!

Laccaria proxima, the scurfy Deceiver. It has a wrinkled stipe with whitish lines, and a darker cap

Inocybe geophylla, the white Fibrecap

Mycena rosea, the Rosy Bonnet, one of the larger bonnet mushrooms

Mycena pura, the very common and variable Lilac Bonnet, another relatively large and attractive bonnet mushroom. The Collins guide says that some think M. rosea is just a form of this species.