Looking for Piggyback fungus

[juliejam]

A few weeks ago i came across a large amount of Blackening Russula ..Its known that the Piggyback fungus grows on old and decaying fruitbodies of the Russula..My question is..if i return with some of the Russula would there be any chance of the fungus developing once ive removed the Russula from the soil..or does this not make any difference.

Cheers..

Julie

[cybershot]

A fascinating species on which much on-line material has been written (See first 4 results of a Google search - Asterophora lycoperdoides) but still no indication whether or not you would be successful in this venture Julie. Always worth a try though as long as you remember that those rotting Russulas don't arf pong.



David

[CapAndBracket]

An interesting question julie, i would have thought if the russula is infected
then the fungi would appear even if it was moved.
The problem is if you have failure then knowing the reason why is nigh
impossible.
When cybershot took that photo we had a sudden flush of them, found in
several locations, but as quickly as they appeared they subsequently
dissapeared, so havn't seen any for a few weeks, there were still plenty of
dead rusula nigricans about so why they had such a short season is a
mystery.
That seems to be fungi this year

Cheers J.P.

[juliejam]

Originally Posted by CapAndBracket

An interesting question julie, i would have thought if the russula is infected
then the fungi would appear even if it was moved.
The problem is if you have failure then knowing the reason why is nigh
impossible.
When cybershot took that photo we had a sudden flush of them, found in
several locations, but as quickly as they appeared they subsequently
dissapeared, so havn't seen any for a few weeks, there were still plenty of
dead rusula nigricans about so why they had such a short season is a
mystery.
That seems to be fungi this year

Cheers J.P.

Well I will give it ago..with a lot of luck maybe on my return this morning i might find some out there already..fingers crossed.


Julie

[fairplay]

Hi Julie,

If they have not been recorded at your site before, I doubt very much if you will be lucky if you take a Russula home.

Your best bet is to obtain a rotting Russula from elsewhere with the parasite attached and place it amongst other Russula nigricans at your site.

I found this at a regular location in Suffolk 2 weeks ago, informed a friend who lives in Fenland (Fens) where R.nigricans doesn't grow apparently, he came down to have a look 4 days later and it was still displaying well.

Neil.

[Chris Yeates]

good luck Julie

I suspect that a major factor in this species' appearance is that it produces 'chlamydospores' and normal 'basidiospores' are rare

chlamydospores are generally thick-walled resting spores, far more capable of remaining viable for a long time than the normal, relatively thin-walled ones

this may explain these sudden appearances (when conditions are just right) followed by periods of absence

what you could try - and this would be interesting - is to see if anyone who collected any material and dried it could let you have a bit: you could then try inoculating Russulas at various stages in their development (probably next year now)

I think the comment about the parasite 'already being there' is probably spot on; I suspect it needs fresh healthy fruitbodies for its growth and then fruits as the host starts going over

I've never seen it in the wild and am very envious of you who have!

regards

Chris

[juliejam]

Well ive brought several of the Russula home with me..as i notice small clusters of a white/cream almost mould like growing on the underside..so i will wait and see if any thing else developes..

I take it i leave them outside ..


Julie