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Phaeographis smithii?

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  • January 9, 2019 at 12:56 pm #31173
    Paul Cannon
    Participant

      Hello all

      I picked this up from an oak twig near Guildford yesterday afternoon. I had assumed that it was a parasitic fungus (probably Colpoma) bursting through a young lichen thallus, but the fruit bodies do belong. It seems to be Phaeographis smithii which would be new to the VC (but then lots of species are), and the chemistry is more or less OK. It looks very similar externally to a collection that Mark Powell posted on FGBI (see http://fungi.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/8228/media” class=”bbcode_url”>http://fungi.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/8228/media), on Corylus from Northants. However, P. smithii is essentially a western species, and material from there (see e.g. http://fungi.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/8228/media” class=”bbcode_url”>http://fungi.myspecies.info/taxonomy/term/8228/media) looks rather different. I wonder whether we have two species?

      Best wishes

      Paul

      January 10, 2019 at 8:08 pm #41656
      Neil Sanderson
      Senior Moderator

        Paul

        I think your and Mark’s, thalli are simply young thalli. The picture on fungi/myspecies from Melbury is an old, somewhat worn thallus (slug eaten a bit?), hence the different appearance (I note this actually my picture from British Lichens website!, that is fine). Phaeographis smithii appears to be a fairly mobile species which was lost from the south east to acidifying pollution; there are old records from Essex. It is now returning to former haunts with the decline in acidifying pollution and it will presumably be sometime before mature thalli exist.

        Just to see if I can get attachments to work, I have (I hope) attached a photo of a Phaeographis smithii apothecia cross section from an Oak twig in the New Forest (from Jan Vondrak’s Matley Wood plot). I have found with a sharp knife and wet apothecia one can separate Phaeographis smithii from Phaeographis dendritica in the field, if you cut the apothecia on a slant the closed or open exciple is reasonably easy to see. Impossible when dry though.

        January 28, 2019 at 1:45 pm #41657
        Brian Coppins

          Just registered/ logged on! Yes agree with Neil. As he says, there are several old records of P. smithii from SE England: Essex, Kent and Surrey. Many of these may not show in maps generated from the BLS Database, but they will on the “MRDS” maps. This will change soon, as a couple of days ago I sent Janet a spreadsheet of old Phaeographis records based on herbarium dets I did back in the 80s – so many of the “MRDS” dots will soon have data against them. It seems to be making a re-appearance in the SE as Mark Powell has it in his area, and I saw it in Kent last year.

          January 28, 2019 at 10:53 pm #41658
          Mark Powell
          Participant

            *bluddy* great to see Brian on here. Yes, P. smithii is turning up with some frequency in the east now. The very talented Lewis first sent me a specimen of this from an orchard near Wisbech (?2013) when it seemed like a crazy exotic. Since then, in the past five years or so, we have found P. smithii turning up across the region – my impression is that it is now a scarce colonist. We found a few occurrences of it on oak twigs in Epping Forest on that field trip (where it wouldn’t have been recorded previously).

            I don’t currently have any suspicion that the western material is different from the eastern colonists – but you know me, push an alternative hypothesis…

            Mark

            January 29, 2019 at 8:37 am #41659
            Chris Johnson

              Welcome Brian – great to have you ‘on board’.

              Off to Stornoway tomorrow for a couple of day to hug a tree or two. Hope to bring back a few things, not too basic, to run across you all.

              Chris

              January 29, 2019 at 5:08 pm #41660
              Ishpi Blatchley

                I have taken Paul’s advice and registered! I found Phaeographis smithii in the Bromley area last year – in Scadbury LNR. Ishpi

                February 1, 2019 at 10:50 am #41661
                Neil Sanderson
                Senior Moderator

                  Wellcome Ishpi

                  Neil

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