Cauliflower Fungi

[Fungus Ken]

I have collected Laccaria tortilis lots of times ... and unfortunately this is not it. Laccaria tortilis is tiny (cap up to about 15mm but often much smaller) but the gills on your specimens are not right, even allowing for any distortion. The colour, the whole jizz and the habitat look wrong.

In my experience Laccaria tortilis tends to be found in damp, often boggy locations, and is not a species associated with wood chips.

This is what the Basidiomycota Checklist says about the habitat:

"On soil in woodland, often in areas which are periodically flooded such as streambanks, pools and the sides of ditches, often associated with Alnus and Salix spp."

I think your mystery remains unsolved.

Ken

PS A much more likely candidate would be distorted Tubaria sp. It's a shame we don't know the spore colour because that would help considerably.

[NickCantle]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What? I had hopes pinned on that!!!

Back to the drawing board David.

[Fungus Ken]

Sorry.

Once you get your eye in for Laccaria tortilis it is easy to recognise, even when it is somewhat distorted. But it always has a delicate and fragile jizz to it, unlike the somewhat stocky (albeit small) specimens in the photo in this thread.

I have found Tubaria furfuracea with its gills upturned and distorted and this species grows on wood chips. But I only offer this as a suggestion because I couldn't be at all sure.

Ken

[NickCantle]

Right. I've been looking at the books again for this tricky little one. What say Peziza proteana - Bonfire Cup. Could it have been growing on burnt ground? Phillips proclaims that it's a rare fungi but you never know. Would be most interested to hear views on this suggestion.

Nick

(For reference, Phillips p362. Fig.b)

[Fungus Ken]

I'm almost certain that Leif is right when he says this is an agaric. It is a basidiomycete rather than an ascomycete. So it is not a Peziza.

Over to the right of the image you can see the top surface of some of the caps, and on one you can see the sort of aberrant growth you often get on top of eg Laccaria laccata, where a mini upside-down cap and gills grows on the cap cuticle. This doesn't happen with species of Peziza.

The photo shows very distorted mushrooms and I'd still say Tubaria is a good bet.

Ken

[NickCantle]

Ok Ken, thank you. I'll give Tubaria a good look You must know the feeling? When it's constantly on your mind?

Nick

[cybershot]

With Andreas' recent revelations about the teratologic forms of Tubaria, Lacaria and Clitocybe spp. and the 'sparassoid' forms of the ascocarps of Peziza proteana, I am no longer quite so embarrassed about the use of the 'cauliflower' epithet naively used in the title of this thread.

David

Ref: Teratologic forms - morel-like growth