[ID] Grassland Fungi

[Jason Green]

Hi WAB'ers,

A little fungi ID please...


1. A portrait...
Quite unusual looking to me, but then I don't usually look at fungi much (my next area to focus on...)


2. Rainwater collector...
It does a good job of retaining rainwater...


3. Gills
Usually I think you say an angle of the gills is important.

Sorry, I didn't taste or smell it. It just looks interesting, kind of like a black rain-collecting coil.

Thanks!

Take care,

Jason

[BROCSMAN]

This looks like an Inkcap, which has fully extended, and collapsed back in on itself. Not sure which one.

[Jason Green]

Thanks, there was a second by it that was uprooted, snapped at the stem. Interesting to know which one, or is that not possible in this later stage then?

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

Thanks, there was a second by it that was uprooted, snapped at the stem. Interesting to know which one, or is that not possible in this later stage then?

If you could tell us the size of the cap and stem it would help but to have an absolute id we need you to tell us the size of the spores and the size and shape of the cells of the veil .........

Mal

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by flaxton

...we need you to tell us the size of the spores and the size and shape of the cells of the veil .........

The... what? Sorry, I know nothing about fungi and so haven't a clue what the Veil is or where the spores would be... Thanks for looking Flaxton

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

The... what? Sorry, I know nothing about fungi and so haven't a clue what the Veil is or where the spores would be... Thanks for looking Flaxton

hi Jason

don't worry, mate! what Flaxton means is that there are quite a number of similar species and you need to be able to check certain features out before you can safely indentify it; I notice you have a fly avatar . . . so it's a bit like someone saying I've seen a fly with yellow and black on it - it definitely had one pair of wings and wasn't a wasp - what was it? You could say well it's probably a hoverfly (but there are other flies with yellow and black on them) and if it was a hoverfly you can name many of them (certainly to genus) if you have a decent photo - others you need to kill and whip our their 'rude bits' and look at them under the microscope

so, yes it's a an inkcap the veil would have been on the outside of the cap, and you often need to find young specimens as well as these older ones because the presence/absence of a veil and the shape of the cells which make it up are important; the dark lines on your fungus are the spores, and again their size and shape is critical in an ID

sadly fungi are by no means easy to do at times!

cheers

Chris

[Jason Green]

Thanks Chris, an interesting comparison with the fly; very helpful. I assumed the spores would be tiny aides used in their reproduction requiring microscopic scrutiny!! So, it's the lines on the outside.

I take it their may be others of the same species nearby, at different ages?

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

The... what? Sorry, I know nothing about fungi and so haven't a clue what the Veil is or where the spores would be... Thanks for looking Flaxton

Sorry for the sarcasm Jason. Just a different way of saying that although it would be "interesting to know which one" with some species it is just not possible without lots of information.
But keep posting and we will all try to help

Mal

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by flaxton

Sorry for the sarcasm Jason

I didn't notice

I'm almost completely new to fungi IDs, so I didn't know it was that hard...