Unidentified Fungi at Clumber Park

[FungiJohn]

I found this single group growing by an old beech? stump in sandy soil at Clumber Park (1b). It was during my rough time before christmas and I didn't take too much attention to it My original thoughts were of pholiota ... adiposa but looking at it now I think not!



Many thanks - John

[Leif]

I'm pretty sure that is Pholiota gummosa, which is not uncommon. It grows on wood, which is often buried as I assume if the case in your picture. The yellowish scales on a white background are a giveaway. As is the habitat.

[GerryNick2]

Hi John
At first glance I would have also said P.adiposa or P.jahnii (one of the same I believe), the habitat certainly fits. On closer inspection I too now have reservations, I would expect to see a more gold-yellow background to the cap and more yellow to ochre background to the stem, could this be due to the use of flash giving a whiter appearance?. There also seems to be an absence of the characteristic pronounced red-brown scales you would expect to see on the stem.

Can't suggest an alternative, have ruled out all the other Pholiota Sp. for one reason or another. It will be interesting to see if someone can come up with a plausible alternative.

Don't think it is P.gummosa which has more of a whitish-beige cap colour with small whitish to brownish flocci, at first glance P.gummosa has the appearance of a Hebeloma.

Gerry

[cybershot]

From various descriptions of the visible macro characteristics I would have to agree with P. gummosa:

Cap - "pale beige to brownish on greenish ground"
Stem - "small short lived scales under fleeting ring"

[FungiJohn]

Many thanks Leif, Gerry and David.

No flash used just a poor image I'll put a better image up later.

I too thought about P. gummosa but it appeared a bit too 'colourful' and yet to pale for P. adiposa.

Oh the joys of fungi

[Fungus Ken]

I think it could be something unusual. The strongly orange-brown scales do look more strongly coloured than would be typical for Pholiota gummosa. The stem also looks fairly stocky, which would not be typical for this species, nor would the orange-brown scales on the stem up to the ring zone.

Unfortunately Pholiota is another one of those genera where, without microscopic inforation, you just can't get anywhere with the keys. So you are into looking at photos and descriptions, which could easily lead you to entirely the wrong conclusion.

In this case we have clustered growth and the "fruiting bodies" seems to be growing from the soil ie from buried wood or roots, which does tend to count out some species that would normally be found on dead logs above the soil surface.

One species that seemed a possibility, though I don't personally know it, is Pholiota lucifera. The scales contrasting with the paler background would be about right although the background is perhaps more white than yellow, which would not be right. This species also has a membranous ring when young, though this can disappear with age. Can we pick a younger specimen and tip it up please? Oh, the frustration.

It could be something unusual... or maybe not.

With Pholiota, a quick check for pleurocystidia and if present, whether these stain yellow in KOH (chrysocystidia) provides a quick way into the keys and helps to narrow down the options very quickly.

The absence of this information is my excuse for not going any further.

Ken

[FungiJohn]

Many thanks Ken for your usual valued comments.

It's yet another typical example of why you can't ID fungi by images alone

I've placed it in the Gallery under P. gummosa which is possibly wrong ... Are people happy with just Pholiota sp. for the title

John

[Fungus Ken]

I don't think we have a high degree of consensus that this is Pholiota gummosa. I think there's enough doubt to leave it hanging at Pholiota sp.

If I ever find a second hand copy of the book "The Genus Pholiota in Central and Western Europe" by Jan Holec I'll have another look. The book sold out before I got round to trying to buy a copy, as is often the way with the restricted print runs of these publications.

Just noticed you said your finds were growing on a stump, which negates some of the comments in my post. Not that it's relevant because I hadn't come to any conclusions anyway.


Ken

[Leif]

It is true that the colours are rather too intense for Pholiota gummosa, but if you look at the surrounding vegetation, then it is clear that the strong colours are an artifact of the camera settings, rather than the fungus. Try using levels/curves to lift the brightness so that the the vegetation is more natural and you will see what I mean.

Also P. lucifera can have a noticeable apical ring which is absent from the specimen on the right. The stem is pale whitish as per P. gummosa, not yellowish as per P. lucifera. The gills are pale yellow, and not orange brown.

I am still fairly sure (but not certain) that this is P. gummosa, and that the odd colours are an artifact and not real.

[cybershot]

I mentioned to John a while ago that I thought that the saturation levels on his photographs were somewhat over egged and, though they make for stunning, impact laden images, are not representative of what is naturally observed by eye. It was only by comparison with the majority of other uploads on site that convinced me that it was not an aberration in my monitor calibration at the time.

David