NFG Foray at Eaton Wood, Retford, 26th May 2024
When we set out for this foray it was raining and the outlook was grim. It was still raining a little when we were all gathered, but ceased shortly after we had all set off into the wood. NFG luck: it is surprising how few times over the years we have been really soaked or actually rained off.
The total number of fungi recorded (28) was not great; it rarely is at this time of the year, but some interesting species were seen. Two myxomycetes or slime moulds turned up early on: Karen Corbel’s Ceratiomyxa fruticulosaon a stump, an attractive white, shiny, translucent mass of tiny clubs and branches; and Jamie Stanfort’s Lycogala terrestre, bright pink beads or globes on a fallen branch. Yi Wang very early on found the common but always photogenic Polyporus squamosus (Dryad’s Saddle) on a stump. It grows on a number of hardwoods and often on sycamore.
A find that impressed those present was the discovery near the base of an old Hogweed stem of Calyptella capula, tiny white goblets on delicate stems. We all thought they were an ascomycete – I should have known better as we have found it on forays before. The microscope tells a different tale and they are in fact basidiomycetes, quite common but very easily overlooked. Two species of Marasmius were widely distributed, Marasmius rotula(Collared Parachute) and Marasmius androsaceous (Horsehair Parachute), though the latter should now, I believe, be called Gymnopus androsaceous. Vaughan Cooper and Ann Ward both found Scutellinia trechispora in different areas of the wood. Superficially it is like the common Scutellinia scutellata, but its spores and paraphyses are very different. It is only a 2nd Notts record and not very common.
While looking at the common crust, Hypoxylon petriniae, on an old fallen ash branch, I saw some tiny elliptical black growths with a central longitudinal cleft. These turned out to be Hysterium angustatum, quite common on fallen wood, but only a 3rd Notts record. Similarly on another bit of rotten wood with damp soil attached, I came across a hyphomycete, Cirrenalia lignicola, a remarkable fungus that looks just like a whorled snail shell, visible only with a microscope and seen by chance. It has been found once before in the county and not often recorded anywhere; and so is a 2nd Notts record.
Three “real” mushrooms were found (i.e. with cap, stem and gills), Calocybe gambosa (St George’s Mushroom) by Vaughan, Psathyrella piluliformis (Common Stump Brittlestem) by Tony Spratley and some small Mycena hiemalis on the mossy base of a birch tree by me.
Back at the cars, the weather was still cool but sunny, a cheerful end to our walk around the wood.
Howard Williams
Orbilia auricolor & Mollisia ligni
Photo: Howard Williams