UK Fungus Day - my contributions.

All will be revealed at the end as to what this amazing lifer (above) was for me, but for now, I will take you through a selection of some of my favourites from yesterday's contribution to the UK Fungus Day, and what will be one of my memorable fungi forays to date.

Beefsteak Fungus

The aptly named Beefsteak is what took me out yesterday as this is a good time of year for them and is one of my favourites. There were only three specimens in the area I know for them, but each one as as eye catching as ever. I particularly liked this one as it is a young specimen, and it looks like it has blood dripping from it which gives it a real character. Just check out the large blood-red globule at the top. They can be found on Oak trees and occasionally on Chestnuts. It is in fact an edible species, maybe I will pass on this though!.

Common Yellow Russula  Despite its name, I only saw one specimen on my foray, but close by and in larger numbers, forming little groups were Chanterelles, a much sought after edible species which regularly features on restaurant menus. For me personally, I never pick mushrooms, I am just contented with finding them, photographing them, admiring them and then leaving them there for someone else to enjoy.

 Chanterelle. 

I visited a little Birch copse in a damp part of the woodland edge where in most years I find nice groups of Fly Agarics - but not today. However, at the base of one particular Birch was a fine specimen of Brown Birch Boletus with a False Saffron Milk Cap close by, so the added distance was worth it after all just to see two more great species.

Brown Birch Boletus

The Brown Birch Bolete or Common Scaber Stalk as it is also known is a very common edible species. They are also sometimes referred to as 'rough shanks' in reference to their scaly stems. They have a greyish-brown cap and are on of the best edible species of this particular group.

The False Saffron Milk Cap was nice to see, it tends not to be a fungi I come across very often, and also in this same area was a number of small groups of Pholiota species including a small group of Two Tone Pholiota which was a nice surprise.

False Saffron Milk Cap

Two Tone Pholiota                                        

Similar to Saffron Milkcaps, hence its recently acquired name of 'false saffron milk cap'. They tend to grow near to Pines and occasionally Spruce trees. This particular one was growing at the edge of a recently felled forestry plantation however, and seemed at home close to a Birch Tree. Two Tone is an edible species which grows in clumps on stumps and trunks of deciduous trees, but be careful not to confuse it with the inedible Galerina unicolor - personally, unless I was 100% sure of the identity of a mushroom I certainly wouldn't eat any. 

Leafy Brain Fungus

It has been a good season so far for this believe it or not edible species. If the name didn't put you off from eating it, its look almost certainly would. This unusual looking jelly fungus has a gelatinous, soft fruit body made up of wrinkled, shiny deep brown lobes. This is a common species found on the trunks of deciduous trees and rarely on conifers.

Common Puffball

It has been a really good season for the Puffballs, with large groups forming amongst the leaf litter of the woodland floor. This particular group have already released the masses of spores into the air. They have a great technique for ensuring the spores are carried far and wide on the air. Each one has a hole at the top from which the tiny green spores are released. When it rains, the rain drop fallen onto one of the Puffballs will have enough force to protrude the spores into the air. Even walking past and brushing against them will reveal a small cloud of green spores puffing into the air. Nature is very clever in how it can take advantage of what is around to support a species.

 Parasol Mushroom

Fungi can blend in so well with its surroundings. This albeit short specimen was right by my feet when I was photographing the Chanterelles. It was only when I looked back along the raised ground that I noticed it. Although it was close by, it just blended in well amongst some leaf litter and the mosses on the ground. It makes you wonder what else you may walk past sometimes. 

But my favourite of the day, even topping the bright vibrant red of the Beefsteak Fungi, had to be the lifer for me, growing on a very old Oak tree. We had passed this on the way up to the Beefsteak site, and it was only on the return walk back down did we spot it. The first picture on this blog is actually a close up of this new species which is an Oak Bracket.

As soon as I saw this species I knew it was a lifer for me. I had never seen one before and I was amazed by the size of the specimen which really stood out on the Oak tree. Closer inspection however revealed an amazing colour to the cap, with a smooth liquid that run onto your fingers when you touched it, and an almost honeycomb looking effect (as the top picture clearly shows).

What makes this such a striking polypore are the masses of amber teardrops oozing from the upper surface. With droplets of 'runny honey' on a 'set honey' background, it looks more like it should belong inside a beehive. It looked almost good enough to eat, but it is in fact inedible. This not so common species can cause 'white rot' for the Oak, but to be honest, it was such a striking looking fungi that losing one Oak would perhaps not be quite so bad if we can get to look closely at this amazing species. It really was an eye=catching and heart racing find.

And so that ended one of my best foraging days to date. I had been out since 7.45am on this day at a local site I visit, but had planned to pick a friend up at 12 noon to visit this site in the Tal-y-Bont area. As we returned to the car just before 5pm the heavens opened - the Gods had been favourable to us. With the rain lashing coming down we finished our last cups of coffee from the flasks sat under a Yew tree, and then headed back.  What a brilliant fungi forage that afternoon had been.