Cap fungus - no visible gills or pores?

[Bruce Williams]

Took these pics this afternoon At Salcey Forest, Northants. It was growing on some well rotted wood (almost certainly oak). The odd thing is that there are no gills or pores visible on the underside of the cap (see pic3). I seem to remember reading about a parasitic fungus that completely grows over the gills of a host fruitbody. Unfortunately so far I haven't been able to locate the website.

Bruce

[Bruce Williams]

I finally managed to locate the website I mentioned in my posting:

Although of course this may not be what we are seeing with this fungus. Anyway what I had in mind was a species of the parasitic mould Hypomyces (Lobster Mushroom).

Apparently it parasitises other gill fungi, often completely covering up the gills and suppressing their development. It is also responsible for the orangish colour. For some info and photos see: Chapter 4b  Ascomycete survey (you will need to scroll down the page a bit).

See also Google Image Result for http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/images/hypolobs.jpg

Plenty of other pics available by Googling on "Hypomyces".

Be interested in opinions.

Bruce

[Fungus Ken]

Your gill-less mushroom is neither a Russula nor a Lactarius so this rules out infection with the particular species of Hypomyces you have mentioned, Hypomyces lactifluorum.

One possibility, is that your gill-less mushroom is a teratogenic form of Flammulina velutipes. It looks to me like the gills have not formed at all in this specimen, rather than having become infected. There are a whole range of things, such as parasitic fungi or viruses, that can cause such distorted growth in mushrooms and if it isn't something common and obvious there isn't much hope of being able to pin it down.

Ken

[NickCantle]

A fantastic find nonetheless

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Fungus Ken

One possibility, is that your gill-less mushroom is a teratogenic form of Flammulina velutipes.

I had to look up that word. I could not think of any matching fungus (minus the gills) but I have to admit that F. velutipes makes sense, given the stem, and the season.

[Bruce Williams]

Thank you all for your interest and comments.

Ken - Thanks for the info. on possible causes of the gill-less condition - I can also see what you mean about Flammulina velutipes as some of the Googled pics do look very similar indeed.

Guess this one will just have to remain a mystery.

Bruce