RECORDING FUNGI (NORTH WILTSHIRE) 2008
Dave Shorten
Click here to download a copy of the report.
For fungi in 2008 another patchy year with un-seasonal rainfall patterns and dry weather through the spring months and, again, through late summer into early autumn. This meant that for a large proportion of the early-autumn fruiting fungi such as the Russulas and Amanitas, very few made an appearance. Despite this, fungus foraying and surveying activities continued throughout the two main seasons and contributed almost two thousand fungus finds records for 2008, bringing our total contribution to the WSBRC to something in the region of 35,500 records to date.
With changing weather patterns affecting the number of fungi being seen, forayers attentions have turned to the unusual, either aberrant growths of fungi from climatic stress or colour variants from genetic variation.
Examples of the damage during growth due to environmental stress: a multiple-stemmed fruit-body of The Deceiver (Laccaria laccata) above-left and the Brittle-gill (Russula densifolia) above-right.
Whilst both of the above species are autumnal, here’s something to look out for now in the later winter / early spring months: the Scarlet Elf-cup Sarcoscypha austriaca (Sarcoscypha coccinea in some older fungus identification books).
This beautiful and large cup fungus grows on fallen and felled timber in damp places, usually on Willow and Alder, but according to our records on almost any broadleaf woody substrate (Ash, Beech, Birch, Blackthorn, Clematis, Elm, Euonymus, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Hazel, Ivy, Laurel, and Sycamore) on almost every woodland site across the county.
Whilst the vast majority of sightings are a strikingly blood-red on the inside surface of the ½ - 2 inch diameter cup-shaped fruit-body, some colour variants do crop up from time to time, either pure-white as in the photo below left and occasionally a bright golden-orange.
The orange fruit-body above was similarly found on the same piece of wood as a host of other ‘normal’ blood-red fungi.
I’d be interested in any records of sightings of the Scarlet Elf-cup across the county, but particularly of any colour variations, or unusual host substrate material (has anyone seen it on felled conifer debris?).
