I always visit Ards forest at least once during the fungal season, and Sunday promised a few dry hours, so off I went. Despite the recent rain, there didn't appear to be a great many specimens, but I did find a decent range of singletons.
Tricholomopsis rutilans is one of the few fungi that were traditionally allocated a common name: Plums and Custard.
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| Tricholomopsis rutilans - Plums and Custard |
I have often mused about the reason for some species having common names, whilst the vast majority do not. All species have a double-barrelled 'formal name', but I suppose that common names were allocated to species that were:
- a) easily recognisable
- b) important for one reason or another (I'm thinking edibility or toxins or medicines here)
I should point out that there was an exercise undertaken a few years ago to allocate a common name to hundreds of fungi. The idea behind this is that the formal binominal is usually Latin or Greek in origin, and is therefore seen to be 'unfriendly' or 'daunting' or 'offputting'. Having learned all the formal names, I won't be re-learning the new ones.
The Russula family of mushrooms is readily identified by the brightly-coloured cap and chalk-white stipe (stem). Many species of this family (and others!) require chemical analysis or microscopic analysis or odour or 'percentage peelability of the cap' for confirmation of the identity, so I'll preface any identifications as tentative for now. Spore prints are under preparation. (I'm currently waiting for Geoff Kibby's new monograph on Russulas to arrive in the post, so I'll update identifications as required).
Russula ochroleuca is very common in Ards, being found under conifers and broad-leaf trees:
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| Russula ochroleuca |
This specimen was also found under conifers:
The blackish centre and very peelable cap are leading me towards Russula fragilis:
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| Russula cf. fragilis |
This specimen has buff/yellow gills, and was again found under a conifer:
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| Russula cf. erythropus |
The gills are joined at their base by cross-veins and the cap peeled perhaps 10%, so this is pointing towards Russula erythropus.
Mycenas are very delicate little fungi, often found growing in moss:
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| Mycena in Dicranum majus moss |
It's always good to see Chanterelles. Sadly, I only found one:
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| Chanterelle - Cantharellus cibarius |
The underside of Chanterelles has thick, forked ridges, rather than gills:
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| Chanterelle underside |
I also found a couple of Hedgehog mushrooms:
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| Hedgehog mushroom |
The underside of Hedgehog has spines, just one of the many techniques that fungi use to increase the spore-producing area:
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| Underside of Hedgehog mushroom, showing spines |
Last year, I tentatively identified these as Cortinarius semisanguineus:
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| Cortinarius cf. semisanguineus |
Nobody has disagreed so far.....
I found a single specimen of Phellodon melaleucus in its usual spot:
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| Phellodon melaleucus |
It's a very rare mushroom smelling strongly of fenugreek when dry.
I found a few specimens of Wood Sorrel in a very dark and damp part of the forest that had been infected with the rather scarce
Mycosphaerella depazeiformis.
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| Mycosphaerella depazeiformis on Wood Sorrel |
I looked up the records for
Mycosphaerella depazeiformis and found that there are only 6 previous records in BI. Three are from Ireland, the most recent in 1936 in Cork. It's very noticeable, so I think it's actually rather scarce, rather than just under-recorded.
More (non-fungal) items from Ards in the next post.
