Newtown Common
Sun 13 Aug 2006
Field event ID HF0605
OS Grid areas: SU4763
Weather: Slight drizzle.
Report: Setting off from Jonathan Hill carpark with more hope than expectation we looked at the site where Hydnellum spongiosipes was found last year and sadly only found the blackened remains of previous fruitbodies. Sara pointed out the large numbers of Daedaleopsis confragosa (the blushing bracket) growing on birch instead of it's common host of willow. This theme continued when we found some young fruitbodies looking for all the world like oyster fungi but growing on a conifer stump. A variety of fanciful suggestions were made by the group before taking the fruitbody home for further identification work. The find was mentioned to Alan Lucas who pointed us in the direction of Courtecuisse's book where Pleurotus ostreatus var.columbinus is mentioned as growing on conifer. However the recent Kew checklist states that P ostreatus does occur on conifers but this fact is often omitted from publications. Even more confusingly it states that var.columbinus occurs on Salix.. After a fascinating tour of the literature I have settled for our original suggestion of the common oyster mushroom P ostreatus with a comment in the notes section.
Before lunch we searched the alder carr for the tiny rare Mycena rhenana that we found on the alder cones last year but not only did we fail to find it but we hardly found any alder cones! At the end of the afternoon we visited a new alder carr suggested by Sue Janke and were excited by finding several mycenas on alder cones which were later confirmed as M rhenana - a second site for this rare fungus and a highlight of the day.
Species list: Amanita fulva, Amanita rubescens var. rubescens, Auricularia auricula-judae, Boletus porosporus, Boletus subtomentosus, Bulbillomyces farinosus, Calocera cornea, Cudoniella acicularis, Daedaleopsis confragosa, Ganoderma australe, Gymnopus dryophilus, Gymnopus peronatus, Heterobasidion annosum, Hyphodontia sambuci, Lactarius obscuratus, Lactarius obscuratus, Lasiosphaeria ovina, Leotia lubrica, Marasmiellus ramealis, Marasmiellus vaillantii, Marasmius rotula, Mycena acicula, Mycena rhenana, Phallus impudicus, Piptoporus betulinus, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pluteus nanus, Pluteus salicinus, Polyporus tuberaster, Pseudoboletus parasiticus, Resupinatus applicatus, Rickenella fibula, Rickenella swartzii, Russula heterophylla, Russula ionochlora, Schizopora paradoxa, Scleroderma citrinum, Skeletocutis nivea, Stereum hirsutum, Trichoderma pulvinatum, Tylopilus felleus, Xylaria hypoxylon