Peter Roberts
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November 6, 2021 at 7:37 pm in reply to: A Purple brittlegill that actually purple ? And an unknown blue fungi #44484
Your green fungus with orange tints looks to me like Lepiota grangei, which is a nice thing to find. Not that common a species. The blackening waxcap, Hygrocybe conica, goes jet black throughout when old…but the shape and general appearance of this fungus suggest a blue-black Entoloma species to me, possibly Entoloma chalybeum which has bluish gills. Both occur in unimproved grassland, but H. conica would be the more suitable species for Hollowe’en since the Americans actually call it “witch’s hat”… How about a wet Mycena pura? Striate when wet and any colour you want. Hericium cirrhatum? Adam is entirely correct…but the fungus (fungi is the plural) in your photo is almost certainly Amanita rubescens, which nearly always has a pink flush, especially where slug-bitten. Amanita pantherina typically has a chestnut brown cap with contrasting white scales. I think Amanita solitaria (= A. echinocephala) is a safe bet. It is actually common in the Mickleham/Box Hill area – even i have seen it nearby at Sheep Leas, years ago – whereas the rare A. vittadini has never (as far as I know) been recorded from Surrey. Amanita solitaria is very much a species of calcareous soil and associates with a wide range of trees. Russ Tulloch’s impressive Amanitaceae website specifically mentions records with lime (Tilia), but I can only see one such UK record on FRDBI. It is more frequently found with beech, as noted above – but then, beech is the commoner tree. September 1, 2021 at 10:07 pm in reply to: Fungus growing beside path at edge of broadleaved wood. #44236If I saw this, I would take it for an Inocybe species – young and fresh enough for the gills not to colour. Something chunky like I. rimosa, perhaps – but a microscope is essential for Inocybe IDs. Always useful to take a spore print on glass and check the colour. The cap cuticle of C. nebularis (a late autumn species) would never become rimose, no matter what the weather conditions. Looks like a Pholiotina species. I find them quite frequently in compost in outdoor flower pots. They are just rotting decayed material in the soil/compost and pose no threat to your fruit and veg. Hope that helps… We are moving beyond whatever expertise I may have…but I would guess the fungus is substantial and widespread, given that it has become sufficiently large to produce a visible bracket. If the tree is well within your garden and not close to or overhanging a road or footpath or your neighbour’s, I would just leave it. It must take quite a while to hollow out a tree. Large limbs have heartwood at their base and when that eventually becomes hollow they may no longer be able to support their own weight and may fall – but if they are not in a position to do damage, that should be ok. You could consult a tree expert – though I suspect professional tree surgeons nearly always recommend felling, since that’s the 100% safe option from their point of view. This is a young fruiting body of a bracket fungus (the pores are just beginning to develop). I would guess it is Inonotus hispidus (“shaggy bracket”), but can’t be certain. The fungus itself is probably rotting the dead heartwood of the tree, slowly hollowing it out. The apple tree should survive this (there are plenty of old hollow trees around), but it may lose limbs or even topple – which may be a potential danger. No way to remove the fungus, I’m afraid, other than by felling the tree. June 11, 2021 at 1:29 am in reply to: Please can I have some ID help with these white rhizomes #44160I too would hesitate to identify a fungus on the basis of its rhizomorphs – but your photos don’t suggest honey fungus to me. They do suggest Megacollybia platyphylla – a wood-rotting toadstool that has been given the English name “whitelace shank” because of its long, white rhizomorphs – or possibly Phallus impudicus, the stinkhorn, which produces similar structures and is also a wood-rotter. Both are harmless, so I think you are probably safe…but I can’t guarantee it. As an alternative suggestion, I would put forward Parasola plicatilispleated inkcap, which is currently coming up all over my lawn thanks to the wet weather. If you pick one and look at the gills under the cap, the Bolbitiusgills will be rusty brown, the Parasolagills will be black. Neither are at all dangerous – but, as Adam says, never eat anything you don’t know, just to be on the safe side. Looks like Agrocybe praecox, with veil remnants around the edge of the cap. Should produce a brown spore print, if so… I am not an expert on garden compost – but I can’t think there would be anything in raw cat-litter that could damage a tree, let alone composted litter. Honey fungus can, however, kill an apple tree (we lost one in our garden). You can look on line at the symptoms. Nothing one can do about it, except replant with a more resistant tree. But initially, I would wait to see if there are any signs of life in the damaged apple tree. Should be starting to bud by now. I think I can see some whitish veil remnants around the edge of the caps in your first two photos, which suggests (given the time of year) Tubaria conspersafelted twiglet, a common species from late autumn to spring. The second two photos could well be Kuehneromyces mutabilissheathed woodtuft – but these are just best guesses, given they are photographed from above. -
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