Unknown fungus on Ash

I have come across a small brownish greyish growth on ash, on the wood where the bark has come away. It is irregular and up to 2.5mm high with a series of small fuzzy shapes densely together. I have had a look under the microscope and it looks a bit as if it should be in Hypoxylon, but it doesn’t exactly match any description that I have found so far. Should anyone know what this is I would be ever so grateful.

Link to species notes.

Read Full Post »

Botryobasidium aureum, alysidium state.

This is a small brown/orange growth on the cut end (in this case) of an old, wet, rotten ash trunk. The growths are something like wet breadcrumbs, they are irregular in shape and surface texture. The young growth is white and fuzzy, becoming cushion like, anb tends to be more rounded. The colour changes to yellowish ocher and finally ends up the orangey colour, sometimes still cushion like but sometimes more flattened and even thinly spread.

Link to photos of fungi and slime mold 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

Phyllactinia fraxini, Powdery mildew of Ash

A not very promising name referring to the white fibrous mildew on the fallen ash leaves. Put it under the microscope and the black round growths on the white mildewed areas have a strange spiny outgrowths.

Link to photos of fungi and slime molds 2010

Link to species notes

.

.

.

Read Full Post »

Trichia decipiens, a slime mold

This is a tiny vivid rounded shiny growth on a whitish stem. They whole thing is about 1.2 mm tall. The initial colour is so bright that it is not to be missed. It begins yellowish and becomes a pinkish orange that shines out against the dead wood it grows on, before maturing to a brownish colour. This is the first time I have managed to identify it, but it has been around each year for a long time.

Link to photos of fungi and slime mold 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

Exidia thuretiana

This is a white clear jelly fungus growing on dead wood. There are two very similar such growths, one that dries and shrivels back to a white hard core (Exidia nucleata) and this one which doesn’t have the hard core. Each growth individually is up to 1 cm across, but they do link up seamlessly with neighbouring growths.

Link to photos of fungi and slime molds 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

Stemonites fusca, 15.11.2010

I am very grateful to Trudy from Londonfungi for pointing me in the right direction with this one. There seems only one slime mold that fits these characteristics, although I have not seen it at its most mature. It is tiny, 4 mm high, and growing on a sheltered recess of fallen ash trunk. It began as tiny piles of white stalked rounds and became elongated reddish sausage shapes on dark stalks which matured to dark brown. The dark brown phase wasn’t available to me apart from the collected specimen which did mature after collection. The slugs seem to have got to the remaining growth.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Link to species notes.

Read Full Post »

Auricularia mesenterica, Tripe Fungus.

This wonderfully wobbly growth is looking good, but it is hard to find on some very wet and rotting wood under a particularly soggy evergreen bush. The upper side is hairy. The common name is from the appearance of the smooth underside, wrinkled and tripe like.

Link to photos of fungi and slime mold 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

Phragmidium violaceum

Another microfungus that was pointed out on other walks, and identified by the experts (who then verified them under the microscope), was this one. There are 2 microfungi that create purple patches on bramble leaves. They look the same but they have spore producing structures that have different amounts of spores in the 2 species. This one, P. violaceum, has 3 or 4 spores per structure, the other one,  P. bulbosum, has 3 to 6, mostly 5 spores.

Link to photos of fungi and slime molds 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

Microsphaera alphitoides T, Powdery Mildew of Oak

Mildews are caused by fungus, and this one grows on oak leaves. It causes a grey blotch on the leaf and on the grey blotch are small black rounded structures that produce the spores. Since it was pointed out on last weeks walk I am including it here.

Link to photos of fungus and slime molds 2010

Link to species notes

Read Full Post »

2 more files in the unknown collection

I have come across a couple of Cortinarius species, well I think they are Cortinarius species, and I am totally stuck on the identification. If you would like to take a look and have any ideas you feel able to pass on they will be gratefully examined.

Link to species notes.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Link to species notes

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Link to unidentified collection

Read Full Post »