Unidentified fungus

[colincurry]

Can anyone help with this one please? It is probably very common but our books are silent on fungi



Thanks

Colin

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by colincurry

Can anyone help with this one please? It is probably very common but our books are silent on fungi



Thanks

Colin

Hello Colin,

These look to me like very old basidiomes (fruitbodies) of the polypore Daedaleopsis confragosa - it is even common enough to have a proper 'English Name' (rather than one of the recent spate of inane 'comittee made up' ones) - called the Blushing Bracket since when fresh and alive the pore surface becomes rapidly 'lipstick-pink' where touched or bruised !

Nick

[Leif]

Originally Posted by mykonik

(rather than one of the recent spate of inane 'comittee made up' ones) -

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by Leif

Well..................most (all ?) of this spate of recent 'new English Names' (I use the term advisedly !) are meaningless, totally inane, utterly useless and absolutely unnecessary ! Mycopoliticocorrectness (!!!) gone mad !!

[if there was an emoticon for pulling hair out with mad 'fuming and grimmacing' I'd have used it !!!!!]

Nick

[Leif]

Originally Posted by mykonik

Well..................most (all ?) of this spate of recent 'new English Names' (I use the term advisedly !) are meaningless, totally inane, utterly useless and absolutely unnecessary ! Mycopoliticocorrectness (!!!) gone mad !!

[if there was an emoticon for pulling hair out with mad 'fuming and grimmacing' I'd have used it !!!!!]

Nick

I will consider you to be hairless and mad.

Glad to hear that I am in good company as I thought I was the only one who hated many of the new names. I quite like some of them. But Hairy Curtain Crust and Scurfy Twiglet are daft. And the problem is that when someone says they found a Burgundy Bonnet, I am lost. At least Bleeding Red Mycena is descriptive. But I prefer the latin names. I'm not really sure of the reasons for two sets of names, unless the common one is very descriptive.

There are also some lovely names which have been potentially lost, such as Tippler's Bane for Common Ink Cap. Maybe no-one uses it, but I like it.

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by Leif

I will consider you to be hairless and mad.

Glad to hear that I am in good company as I thought I was the only one who hated many of the new names. I quite like some of them. But Hairy Curtain Crust and Scurfy Twiglet are daft. And the problem is that when someone says they found a Burgundy Bonnet, I am lost. At least Bleeding Red Mycena is descriptive. But I prefer the latin names. I'm not really sure of the reasons for two sets of names, unless the common one is very descriptive.

There are also some lovely names which have been potentially lost, such as Tippler's Bane for Common Ink Cap. Maybe no-one uses it, but I like it.

No I still have hair - but am MAD (according to my friends !!) - but probably not very mad I should add !

You are in very good company, since the majority of the staff at Kew and most of the people I speak to, or am spoken to, about this subject, think that all these nonsensical 'comittee names' were (mostly) utterly preposterous and, frankly, useless [as they have since proved to be !].

The idea was that by NOT using Latin binomials (which might scare people off) it would appeal to the 'intellectually challenged' amongst the population who just MIGHT be interested in fungi and that just MIGHT induce them to take it up as a pastime and, following the 'mission statement' to be a 'promoter of mycology' in Britain, would then promulgate knowledge of these relatively obscure organisms amongst the populace - well, it didn't really work !!

It also strikes me that to view people as 'intellectually challenged' so that they (in the eyes of the people making up these silly names) could not manage to learn the binomial system is insulting to the majority of people that I know who were, are, or maybe are, interested in fungi !

And, since the British are historically notoriously 'mycophobic' it was thought that if these 'nasty things' were all given nice, cuddly warm-sounding names then they would become user-friendly and people would not be scared of them any more !

If the Latin binomial system was good enough for Linnaeus who invented it as a very good way of cutting the previously turgid and verbosely descriptive way of naming things, and for Elias Fries (the father of mycology) plus all the famous British mycologist of the past like Carleton Rea etc., etc., then it should be good enough for anyone !

And, as you say, if you quote any of these made up names [viz. Burgundy Bonnet - what is that ?????] to most people they have no idea what you are talking about whereas the binomial system is universal which is EXACTLY what Linnaeus envisaged !

Dumbing down, I believe is the term !!

Rant over !! Time to go and take the Valium.

[NickCantle]

Come on Nick mate, we can do this, you're going to be alright...

Just breathe! Slow deep breaths

[colincurry]

Is there a fungus called 'Can of worms'?

Colin

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by colincurry

Is there a fungus called 'Can of worms'?

Colin

I think that would be (nearest translation) vas of vermis Colin !! [i.e vessel of worms !] - but trinomials are not allowed according to the rules of nomenclatue (for fungi).

Nick

PS The Valium's kicked in now !!

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

Come on Nick mate, we can do this, you're going to be alright...

Just breathe! Slow deep breaths

Thanks NIck - I feel calmer already !!

Nick