Oudemansiella …

Porcelain Fungus (Oudemansiella mucida)

O. mucida is a widespread and common beech wood species. Appearing in late summer to late autumn it is typically found on rotting beech trunks and fallen branches where it grows in clusters. It is semi-translucent, slimy and white in appearance. When O. mucida is found on a beech tree it usually outcompetes other fungi nearby by means of a powerful anti-fungal agent called strobilurin. It is saprobic [deriving its nourishment from non-living or decaying organic matter] or weakly parasitic to living beech trees. While it has a strong connection to beech, it has also been found growing on oak on rare occasions.

The above group was recently photographed around three metres up a mature beech tree.

References:

Buczacki, S., Shields, C. and Ovenden, D. (2012). Collins Fungi Guide: The most complete field guide to the mushrooms and toadstools of Britain & Ireland. London: HarperCollins, p. 200, fig. p.201.

Phillips, R. (2006). Mushrooms. London: Pan Macmillan, p. 116, fig. a.

Sterry, P. and Hughes. B. (2009). Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools. London: HarperCollins, p. 138, fig. pp. 138-139.

https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/oudemansiella-mucida.php

Not a bee in sight…

Beeswax Bracket (Ganoderma pfeifferi)

G. pfeifferi is a widespread but uncommon find in England and very rare in Scotland and Wales. The above group was recently found and photographed in a cavity within a decaying beech in West Sussex woodland. My thanks to Martin Allison, county recorder for basidiomycetes, for confirming identification.

References:

Buczacki, S., Shields, C. and Ovenden, D. (2012). Collins Fungi Guide: The most complete field guide to the mushrooms and toadstools of Britain & Ireland. London: HarperCollins, p. 484, fig. p.485.

Sterry, P. and Hughes. B. (2009). Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools. London: HarperCollins, p. 268, fig. p. 269.

https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/ganoderma-pfeifferi.php

https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0001482804

Simocybe ...

Simocybe sumptuosa

Little brown jobs are often far more than that when viewed through a macro lens. The above specimens of the delicate S. sumptuosa were recently found and photographed on a rotten oak log at Wiggonholt Common, West Sussex. My thanks to Martin Allison, county recorder for basidiomycetes, for confirming their identification.

Fungi that bite ...

Velvet Tooth (Hydnellum spongiosipes)

H. spongiosipes (Thelephorales: Bankeraceae) is an uncommon stipitate hydnoid fungus. These are a group of ‘tooth fungi’ [fungi that release their spores from tooth-like structures], which have a short stalk or 'stipe', hence the name 'stipitate'.

Stipitate hydnoid fungi are ectomycorrhizal; forming close symbiotic relationships with trees and deriving some of their nutrients from the tree's roots. This aids them in obtaining nutrients where soil quality is poor and means they are always found in association with trees. H. spongiosipes is typically associated with oak, sweet chestnut and, less frequently, beech; this provides a useful, but not necessarily accurate way of distinguishing between this species and H. ferrugineum, which occurs mainly under pine.

References:

Ainsworth, A.M., Parfitt, D., Rogers, H.J. and Boddy, L. (2010). Cryptic taxa within European species of Hydnellum and Phellodon revealed by combined molecular and morphological analysis. Fungal Ecology, 3(2), pp. 65-80.

Dickson, G. (2000). A field key to British non-resupinate hydnoid fungi. Field Mycology, 1(3), pp. 99-104.

Kibby, G. (2017). Mushrooms and Toadstools of Great Britain & Europe, Volume 1, pp.40-41.

O’Reilly, P. (2016). Fascinated by Fungi – exploring the majesty and mystery, facts and fantasy of the quirkiest kingdom on earth. Llandysul: First Nature, pp. 203-205.

Phillips, R. (2006). Mushrooms. London: Pan Macmillan, pp. 323-327.

Sterry, P. and Hughes. B. (2009). Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools. London: HarperCollins, pp. 296-301.

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/_speciespages/374.pdf

https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000021229#overview

http://www.fieldmycology.net/GBCHKLST/gbsyns.asp?intGBNum=3195