Fungi ID help ?

[Nagel]

No need to travel that far.

 

Indeed not, the rough ground off Fulwood Head Road is very productive.

[Alcoblog]

Yeah i do usually note the tree, but my lad was more interested about getting to the lake to skim stones.

 

I'm not saying what i was up there searching for (not Psilocybe) but they do grow by pines.

 

Bit confused here megs ... you say that you're not looking for magic mushrooms, whilst still being secretive about it.

I can only think of one other option ... truffles! . The confusing bit here (if this is the case), is that I thought truffles were to be found under the umbrella of beech and oak trees ... not pines?

 

This could explain why mine and G/F's expeditions last year in search of the elusive fungus (in predominately beech and oak woodland), resulted in diddly-squat. Do you know something I don't? (I'm sure you know lots that I don't, but I'm talking about truffles here ).

[cgksheff]

Why was that toadstool always to be found at parties?

[Native lad]

Can anyone identify this fungi please. It's one i've not seen before.

 

TIA.

 

Wow! I hope it's still there! I too have never seen it before, but I do recognise it.

 

The fungus is Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Pat. You found a particularly good specimen! It causes a brown rot in the butt, lower stem and roots of conifers (Pine, Larch, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir and Yew), usually in plantations. This can result in brittle fracture of the lower trunk in strong winds, as the cellulose that imparts flexibility when plant parts are subjected to tension is consumed by the fungus. It is thought that the fungus usually colonises the plant once it has already been colonised and infected with the a primary pathogenic fungus: Armillaria species (the much dreaded "Honey fungi" - anything within 30m of these fungi is likely to become infected, given the right conditions for growth), particularly A.mellea. Armillaria species infect the roots, causing white rot decay and infected trees are very likely to uproot in strong winds after a few years of infection. White rot fungi decay cellulose and lignin - the stuff that gives plant parts their rigidity and resistance to compression (e.g. from weight of aerial parts and forces exerted as a result of snow/rain/wind): if such wood fractures in the early stages of decay, you get a ductile fracture; in the later stages a more brittle fracture. The decayed wood has a texture not unlike well cooked turkey once pulled in to strips. At a very advanced stage of decay, the wood can be squeezed like a sponge.

 

Note: Sporophores of P.schweinitzii can occur on the trunk, or on the roots. The photo of the one found in this case was on the roots. You will see a similar picture in the following publications:

 

Strouts, R. G., & Winter, T. G. (1994). Diagnosis of ill-health in trees. HMSO.

ISBN-13: 978-0900978586

 

Lonsdale, D. (1999). Principles of tree hazard assessment and management. Stationery Office Ltd, Publications Centre.

ISBN-13: 978-0117533554

 

Your find is certainly NOT Rhizina undulata: a fungus that, in reality, looks like someone with diarrhea took a dump (nothing else I know of looks anything like it).

 

Just out of interest, have you seen the fungus since?

Edited March 20, 2015 by Native lad

[anywebsite]

That does look more like it. The picture that was linked in my post, since removed did look similar, but maybe it was mislabelled or something, Wikipedia says rhizina undulata only gets to about 6cm wide.

 

Thanks for the ID.

[Native lad]

Wikipedia says rhizina undulata only gets to about 6cm wide.

 

Thanks for the ID.

 

That's about right. Usually clustered.

 

---------- Post added 20-03-2015 at 00:59 ----------

 

i found a pad fungus on the Rhododendrons there that could only be described as chrome coloured. Never managed to ID it.

 

Possibly old Chondrostereum purpureum (Silver leaf)?