Tapinella atrotomentosus on hardwood

[fairplay]

Earlier I made a comment of finding Tapinella atrotomentosus on hardwood 2 years ago. It didn't appear last year but this year I have been keeping a lookout for it and last night, in the rain, I found what I initially thought was a Tapinella sp., prised it away from the wood and, to my surprise, it was what I had been waiting for. Luckily, some wood came away with it.

The first photo shows the general layout, complete with brolly, coz it was raining, the second and third shows the fungus resting on the log (Sweet Chestnut) 4th was taken at home with LED lighting and the 5th shows the spores under oil immersion.

Now drying ready to send to Kew.

Neil

[mykonik]

Hi Neil - certainly looks like Castanea wood to me - and the remains of the catkins are a good clue as well !

Interesting host record !

Nick

[Nick_in_Scotland]

I always knew that one as Paxillus atrotomentosus (or more accurately my mind remembers it as atromen-toasties) This forum's great for keeping track of all the Genus changes that keep going on.

[fairplay]

What I meant to write was I thought at first it was a Panellus sp. which is why I just prised it off the wood.

Had I known it was what I had been waiting for, to appear, I would have got the knife out to remove some wood with the fungi but luckily the log was half buried and beginning to rot underneath so some wood came off still attached to the stem base.

Normally Castanea weathers very slowly like Quercus (which is why it is used in Chestnut Paling Fencing)

For people wondering what the significance of what this thread is about, some months back, I mentioned I had found Tapinella atrotomentosus on Castanea when all the books describe it on Conifers and some with a question-mark as to it's occurrence on hardwood.

Nick (Mykonik) mentioned how interesting this is as Kew have no voucher specimens of T. atrotomentosus with hardwood attached, just 3 written records, so it seems and I'm hoping, that this is going to be the first substantiated record (in Britain ? Europe ?)

Nick, despite the wood being rotten, will Kew experts easily be able to tell this is hardwood as opposed to softwood ?

Neil.

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by fairplay

What I meant to write was I thought at first it was a Panellus sp. which is why I just prised it off the wood.

Had I known it was what I had been waiting for, to appear, I would have got the knife out to remove some wood with the fungi but luckily the log was half buried and beginning to rot underneath so some wood came off still attached to the stem base.

Normally Castanea weathers very slowly like Quercus (which is why it is used in Chestnut Paling Fencing)

For people wondering what the significance of what this thread is about, some months back, I mentioned I had found Tapinella atrotomentosus on Castanea when all the books describe it on Conifers and some with a question-mark as to it's occurrence on hardwood.

Nick (Mykonik) mentioned how interesting this is as Kew have no voucher specimens of T. atrotomentosus with hardwood attached, just 3 written records, so it seems and I'm hoping, that this is going to be the first substantiated record (in Britain ? Europe ?)

Nick, despite the wood being rotten, will Kew experts easily be able to tell this is hardwood as opposed to softwood ?

Neil.

Yes, if they actually bother to get the wood checked ! The vessel elements in conifer wood are distinct from those in wood of deciduous species.

But they may not actually bother to check (costs money !!) - even so, send it, saying that you think it's on Castanea, since it's a useful, interesting record for the fungus on an odd host and I think you are correct in your host determination !

At least the material will have been preserved should someone wish to challenge it in years to come !

Nick