Recording Fungi (North Wiltshire) in 2010
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A good year overall for fungi, despite a poor spring season and sluggish start to the autumn there were several significant finds in North Wiltshire in 2010.
Cotswold Fungus Group has contributed another 5,700 records to W&SBRC to the end of 2010, although this included a 3,000 dataset of archival foray records from the British Mycological Society's FRDBI national database (Foray Records Database of Britain & Ireland) going back to the turn of the previous century. Over 43,000 fungus foray records have been added by CFG since it began in 1992.
This recent data update and good fruiting year in 2010 has added to the list of known species that appear on the 2007-NBN Red Data List of Fungi & Lichens, with eighteen recorded in total, although sightings of only six of these in the last decade.
The Flea’s Ear (Chlorencoelia versiformis)
one of the two Red Data List species recorded at Great Wood, Stanton Fitzwarren. Recorded here in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2010. Also recorded once at Clouts Wood near Wroughton in 2008.
The Carroty False Truffle (Stephanospora caroticolor) below left is the other Red Data fungus species at Great Wood, the only site for the whole county. Fist seen in 2006 it was re-discovered growing in profusion in 2010 in at least three separate locations in boggy waterlogged soil.
It is a soft, lightweight, bright orange underground (hypogeous) false-truffle that can grow multi-lobed and up to 40mms in diameter. It has a slightly perfumed / fruity yet unpleasant odour and like all of the ‘false-truffles’ is not edible.
Its spores are spread in the dung of small animals that eat it, so the false-truffle fruitbody is lightweight, allowing it to float up to the soil surface when it is mature and the ground is waterlogged.
The spores in the microscope photo above right, are characteristic of this species with their large knobbly spines, and overall are between 10 - 14 microns in length (1 micron = one thousandth of a millimetre) around x500 magnification on the printed page. The small grey flecks in the background of the image are bacteria rotting the truffle down.
Fungus foraying and recording activities at Sandpool Reserve, WWT's new site on the North Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border has brought the fungus species list for the site from zero to 117 species in 2010. Whilst this might seem high to some, we have a long way to go to record as many different species as there are for Savernake Forest (1,259) but even a relatively small site can harbour a large population of fungi - Great Wood has 971 separate species of fungi.
One of the uncommon records for Sandpool Reserve: the Willow Jelly (Exidia recisa).
Recorded only on two sites in North Wiltshire: Sandpool in 2010 and at Clouts Wood in 2009. It is specific to dead attached thin branches of Willow.
Dave Shorten
Chairman & Foray Leader
Cotswold Fungus Group
www.cotswldfungusgroup.com
Attachment no.1 2007-NBN Red Data Species of Fungi & Lichens in Wiltshire
Boletus pseudoregius (N.Wilts: 1996 & 1998)
Caloplaca herbidella (N.Wilts: 1987)
Cantharellus melanoxeros (N.Wilts: 1999)
Chlorencoelia versiformis (N.Wilts: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010)
Chrysomyxa pirolata (S.Wilts: 1972, 1975)
Hericium coralloides (N.Wilts: pre-1951)
Hericium erinaceus (N.Wilts 1991, 2009 / S.Wilts: 1997)
Hydnellum concrescens (N.Wilts: pre-1951)
Microglossum olivaceum (N.Wilts: pre-1951 / S.Wilts: 1970)
Phylloporus pelletieri (N.Wilts: 1983)
Podoscypha multizonata (S.Wilts: 1987)
Puccinia thesii (N.Wilts: 1897, 1930, 1955 / S.Wilts: 1873, 1967, 2005)
Pyrenula nitida (N.Wilts: 1927 / S.Wilts: 1986, 1989)
Sarcodontia crocea (N.Wilts: 2006)
Sarcosphaera coronaria (N.Wilts: 1871, 1948)
Stephanospora caroticola (N.Wilts: 2006, 2010)
Urocystis colchici (N.Wilts: 1840's)
Usnea florida (S.Wilts: 2005)
The full list of 2007-NBN RDL fungus species and all finds-data for the above species is available from Dave Shorten.
Further details, including species photographs of the BAP-RDL species of fungi at: http://www.abfg.org/bap1.php
