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Monday 10 April 2017

Polyporus leptocephalus - Blackfoot Polypore

 Polyporus leptocephalus - Blackfoot Polypore

Last July I visited Pitlochry (Scotland). Bad weather was forecast for the next day.
The forecasters were correct!  On the short drive into the town centre the sky turned almost black and became eerie silent.

Shortly thereafter the heavens opened and we pulled into the Co-op Supermarket car park.  A deluge of rain with terrible thunder and lightening.  I could see water gushing down the local 'burn' behind the supermarket.  Water was rushing down the streets knocking folk off their feet - I saw a woman's sandals floating down the road.

I rushed inside the supermarket to buy a sandwich only to be told the 'burn' had burst its banks and had flooded the floors - the fire engine was on its way and we had to evacuate!
I ran back to the car and sat tight.  Thirty minutes later it was all over and the sun was shining!  The only evidence being the sandbags protecting entrances.

Fungi thrive in such damp and humid conditions so I went to Pitlochry Golf Course and some nearby copses. I saw some prime Honey Fungus and a Blackfoot Polypore.

Characteristics: Cap up to 10 cm diam. Funnel - irregularly shaped. Ochre-brown and finely lined.  The cap has a depressed area at the point the stem attaches. Pores, circular, white and later turning darker brown.  Stem up to 5 cm and partly black or dark brown. On dead/dying deciduous trees.  Spring to Autumn. Common.





Showing outer surface





Showing pores and black stem





Saturday 8 April 2017

Coprinus jonesii - Bonfire Inkcap

Coprinus jonesii - Bonfire Incap

Visited Scotland earlier this week.  I've made many visits over the years but never during the month of April. Very uplifting it was too - ablaze with vivid yellow daffodils and budding gorse, plus many new born lambs.

I revisited Crombie Park, near Arbroath, Angus, consisting of 200 acres of woodland and a loch.  The ground was very dry and there was an absence of fungi.  I did spot a peat bog though, and there the ground was more damp. Nearby was an old bonfire site with lots of dead, burnt wood lying around.  I nearly missed it but heavily camouflaged was a small group of Bonfire Inkcap.  This absolutely made my day!  Many years of seaching for this.

Characteristics: up to 6 cm tall, firstly conical then expanding.  At first the cap is covered in white/grey fibrillose veil remnants.  When this has  disappeared or partially so, the dark grey cap is striate from the margin edge inwards, taking on a grooved appearance.
The stem is white, woolly, but can be smooth in sections. The gills are dark, then black.
Found in burnt soil or charred wood.  Uncommon.



A perspective angle 



Showing fibrillose veil remnants and striate texture on cap and pieces of burnt wood on cap