Life on a beech

Four different fungi, all on the same decaying beech tree trunk at Bowlees in Teesdale. Dead trees are a wonderful resource for fungi, mosses and many small invertebrates.

I think this is yellow curtain crust Stereum hirsutum , growing on the cut end of the trunk.

This is the young stage of the porcelaine fungus Oudemansiella mucida

... and here it is with the slimy caps fully expanded

... and this is another Stereum species, although I'm not sure which. This is a young stage .....

.... and this is the same at a more mature stage.

And finally, I think this is the many-zoned polypore aka turkey-tail fungus Trametes versicolor

Dead Assets

With all the doom and gloom about dying ash trees in the news, maybe it's as well to bear in mind the wise words of Oliver Rackham - probably Britain's foremost authority on trees and woodlands - who observed that "a huge dead tree is still beautiful, and as good a habitat as a living tree". When a tree dies a whole host of organisms colonise and feed on it throughout its afterlife, which can last for decades. The National Trust owns two woodlands on the south bank of the River Swale at Richmond in North Yorkshire - Billy Bank wood and Hudswell wood - and has taken great care to ensure that there's a plentiful supply of dead wood lying around to act as a habitat for organisms that depend on this habitat.

This massive fallen beech is covered by a carpet of moss on its upper surface while ...

.. the underside hosts numerous fine young examples of Ganoderma fungus. This bracket fungus can live on the dead wood for a decade or more, producing a new layer of white sporing tissue on its underside every year.

I think this is probably a sycamore stump, hosting one of the densest populations of candlesnuff fungus Xylaria hypoxylon that I've ever seen.

There are also some decaying hazels that must once have been coppiced. Their decaying poles are the favourite substrate for hairy curtain crust fungus Stereum hirsutum. This is a young specimen ....

.... and here's a more mature example.