Dead but not forgotten

I stumbled across the remains of a dead tree and was delighted to find it was covered in different fungi. 

The first thing I noted was Daldinia concentrica, more popularly known as King Alfred's cakes:

Daldinia concentrica - King Alfred's Cakes

They range in size from golf-ball to cricket-ball and most definitely look like burnt cakes. Surprisingly, this is the first time I've seen it, although I've been aware of its existence for some time. Specimens of Daldinia are very tough, and it's no great surprise to learn that they are the favoured (sometimes only) dwelling-place of various beetles. New to my Species list.

Notice the turquoise area of bare wood to the left. That's Chlorociboria aeruginascens, also known as 'Green Oak' (although I initially thought my dead tree was Beech, and Chlorociboria aeruginascens is sometimes found on Beech, as is the Daldinia):

Chlorocibaria aeruginascens - 'Green Oak'

Green Oak was very popular for use in Tunbridgeware due to its bright green/blue addition to the more usual cream, yellow and brown of wood colours. Note the small holes in and around the green area, showing that the dead wood is home to more beetles. The beetles and fungi are doing what they do best: recycling dead wood and returning it to the soil. Also new to my Species list.

I also found patches of Flammulina velutipes in various places on the tree:

Flammulina velutipes - Velvet Shank

Its common name Velvet Shank is a translation of the latin velutipes, indicating the dark, velvety stipe ('stem'), although I have noticed in the past that many specimens actually have a pale, smooth stipe. Just to be sure, I put a couple of specimens on a glass slide and they reluctantly dropped a few white spores for me:

Flammulina velutipes spores at x 400

If you find an orange fungus on dead wood and it throws white spores, you can be pretty sure that it's Flammulina velutipes.

At the bottom of the tree I noticed a single group of Turkey Tails - Trametes versicolor:

Turkey Tails - Trametes versicolor

The specific epithet 'versicolor' is accurate: I find these in many colours from yellows, greens, cream and white through to reds, black and brown.

So that's a few more specimens for the 1k challenge, including two 'lifers'. The challenge total is now 218 species.