Dryad's saddle rides again

 For the fourth time in a little over two years this old sycamore stump has produced a magnificent display of dryad's saddle Cerioporus squamosus bracket fungi. The previous crop appeared this spring, in April.

It's likely that the fungus was the original cause of death for the mature tree, which must have been felled as a safety precaution since it was growing close to a road.  The fungus has been digesting its remains every since.

In classical Greek mythology 'Dryades were nymphs that presided over the woods. Oblations of milk, oil, and honey were offered to them, and sometimes the votaries would sacrifice a goat. They were not generally considered immortal, but as genii, whose lives were terminated with the death of the tree over which they were supposed to preside.' J. Lempriere. A Classical Dictionary: containing a copious account of all the proper names mentioned in ancient authors. Originally published in 1788.

The underside of the cap, with thousands of tiny pores releasing millions of spores.

Exquisite pattern of scales on the cap of a bracket.

Choke fungus - Epichloe typhina

These strange white sheaths around the stems of grasses are the spore-producing tissue of the fungus known as choke Epichloe typhina. It's present inside the grass all year-round, living as microscopic hyphae within the spaces between cell and benefitting from sugars produced by the host's photosynthesis, but is only visible to the naked eye in summer, when it produces its spores externally around the stem. The white fungal sheath will turn orange-brown when the spores are ripe and ready to be shed, when they are often carried away by small flies.

 The fungal infection tends to prevent the grass culms from flowering, promoting multiple shoot formation instead, but in return the fungus increases its host's drought resistance and produces toxic alkaloids that deter grazing animals, so the relationship between fungus and grass is symbiotic and not simply parasitic.

I found these specimens growing beside a footpath at Wolsingham, Weardale this week.

Shaggy scalycaps

 We found these magnificent shaggy scalycaps Pholiota squarrosa growing around the base of a mature ash tree in Auckland park, Bishop Auckland. They've appeared in the same place for several autumns now and I wonder how long it will be before they weaken the roots so much that the tree will come crashing down in  gale.

 I've also seen shaggy scalycaps growing on old beech trees in the park - these were growing inside the hollow trunk of a beech that died long ago.

Pocket plum disease

 This summer there have been some spectacular local outbreaks of pocket plum disease, affecting sloes on blackthorn on the Durham coast near Hawthorn dene  and bird cherry fruits in Weardale. It's caused by the fungus Taphrina pruni, which induces the fruits to swell, become spongy and fill with watery fluid. In bird cherry (bottom picture) the normally spherical, shiny black fruits become banana-shaped. No seeds are formed inside these deformed fruits, instead there is an empty 'pocket'.

Some late winter toadstools

 Three late-winter fungi that have been very conspicuous here this month.

 Scarlet elf cup Sarcoscypha austiaca. Always a joy to find, especially when it's nestling in a bed of mosses. More about this species here.

Hairy bracket Trametes hirsuta, on the base of a dead silver birch trunk. Seems to be increasingly common hereabouts.

A nice cluster of very young velvet shanks Flammulina velutipes, on a dead poplar stump. A toadstool that continues to grow in the coldest, frostiest weather.

Waxcaps in Auckland park, Bishop Auckland

 

This has been the best autumn for waxcap toadstools that I can recall here in County Durham. This very mild, and lately very wet, November seems to have suited them perfectly.

I found these in ancient, unimproved calcareous grassland in Auckland park, Bishop Auckland this morning. I suspect that the one above and the two below might be the scarlet waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea, whilst the bottom two photos, with yellow gills, could be crimson waxcap Hygrocybe punicea, though it is hard to be sure. 

These exquisite little toadstools often seem to be associated with meadow ant nests in the park, which could have more to do with soil drainage than directly with ants. They toadstools are brittle and many are knocked over and broken by grazing animals.

local patch lockdown: some plants

The end of three weeks of Coronavirus lockdown early morning walks around the same route. After a slow start, when spring seemed reluctant to release its grip, suddenly everything is coming into leaf and now there are more flowers opening every day. 

This Pulmonaria is a garden throw-out, dumped with some garden waste, and has established itself as a large patch of flowers on the road verge. Tt has been flowering since mid-March. 

The first blackthorn blossom appeared in mid-March and by early April the hedgerows were looking lovely.

There is one large wych elm tree on my route, that has escaped Dutch elm disease and by early April it was in full bloom.

There are a lot of Prunus species in the hedgerows along the route and I'm guessing that these are all cherry-plum

This one looks like blackthorn, but it's a small tree. Blackthorn rarely grows to these proportions.

Silver birch catkins began to bloom in early April and by mid-April the leaf buds were beginning to burst

Wild cherry in bloom - one of the finest of all our native flowering trees

Male (above) and female (below) sallow, flowering

Female flowers of an unidentified willow

Ash in full bloom. It will be three or four more weeks before the leaf buds burst. This is always the last tree to come into leaf and the first to lose them, in September.

Lots of gorse in the hedges around the route and also some good gorse scrub - excellent, prickly nest sites for birds

The hawthorn hedges began to show the first signs of new leaves in late March

Rowan leaf buds burst very early and are already showing well developed flower buds

The colt'sfoot that has been flowering since mid-March is now going to seed

White dead-nettles and greater stitchwort flowering on the road verges in mid-April

Not many fungi at this time of year, but these are old, withered specimens of yellow brain fungus Tremella mesenterica growing on a moss-covered dead stem of gorse.

An attractive example of turkey tail fungus Coriolus versicolor

Not sure about this one, but I think it might be an old specimen of hairy bracket Tremetes hirsuta

Fungal Forays

A very rewarding autumn for fungal forays, so far.

Here are a few recent finds in Teesdale, Weardale and around Durham city

I think this is probably southern bracket Ganoderma australe, growing on an old beech tree in Stanhope dene. The black colouration is probably due to several days of heavy rain, soaking the surface. There were about a dozen of these on the trunk. They weaken the tree and the trunk usually snaps in high winds, about 10-15 feet above ground. The brackets are perennial and produce an annual crop of spores over a decade or more.

A beech stump, infested with old southern brackets

Trooping funnel Clitocybe geotropa, part of a fairy ring in Weardale that appears in this spot, under old hazel coppice, every autumn

Crimped gill Plicatura crispa, a Scottish species that's moving into northern counties of England. On dead horse chestnut branches, at Egglestone in Teesdale

Common puffballs Lycoperdon perlatum, in vast numbers, under Norway spruce in Hamsterley forest

Common puffballs Lycoperdon perlatum in Durham University Botanic Garden

Hairy curtain crust Stereum hirsutum in Stanhope dene, Weardale

Possibly a wood blewit Lepista nuda  (?) that has had some of the colour washed out of it by rain? Low Barns Nature reserve, Durham

Turkey tail Trametes versicolor in Durham University Botanic Garden

Honey fungus Armillaria mellea on an ash tree at Wolsingham in Weardale

Wood blewit Lepista nuda in Hamsterley forest, Durham

Sulphur tuft Hypholoma fasciculare Weardale

Clouded agaric Clitocybe nebularis in Durham University Botanic Garden, where it forms spectacular fairy rings

Unidentified, Durham University Botanic Garden

Angel bonnets Mycena archangelica on a fallen beech branch, Durham University Botanic Garden

Candle snuff Xylaria hypoxylon, Egglesone, Teesdale

Bitter bracket Postia styptica (?), Durham University Botanic Garden

Collared earthstar Geastrum triplex, under an old ash tree in Hollingside lane, Durham city

Collared earthstars discharging spores after being hit by raindrops

Upright coral Ramaria stricta (or maybe the less common R. abietina?) under Korean fir Abies koreana, in Durham University Botanic Garden

Shaggy scalycap Pholiota squarrosa on a Californian redwood in the arboretum of Durham University Botanic Garden