Newbie

[lisichka]

Hello everyone! I'm from the Isle of Man. I'm a newbie to the forum and mushroom hunting. I have equipped myself with a few books, but I do not have anyone to guide me so I hope I can get some advice from this forum.
I have been on my first hunting and got a few fungi which I'm trying to identify. The first one was found in a glen in a pile of rotting leaves. It has a brown cap with lilac gills (the gills turned more brownish overnight). I took the spore print and it was creamy-yellow with pink tinge to it. I thought the fungi might be the Wood Blewit, but the spore print makes me believe it something else.
The second fungi was found in grassy area near a hedge. It has a brownish-grey cap with cream gills. The spore print is creamy-yellow. Please can anyone help me to ID the fungi?

[leifus]

welcome to WAB! I'm also quite new to fungi and no expert!! but I dont think you have a wood blewit - having said that though someone will probably come along and correct me

[Chris Yeates]

welcome lisichka (intriguing name!)

I fully endorse leif's wood blewit suggestion; the other one looks like one of the big Clitocybes . . . . these are getting towards the big end for me - I really like the tiny fungi which hardly anyone can see . . . .

I suspect Nick Cantle will give you a reliable ID

incidentally, as I have already said to another newcomer today, if you don't have a decent handlens then I strongly recommend getting one - almost immediately it'll make mycology ten times more fun!

pm me and I'll send you details of suppliers

best wishes

Chris

[flaxton]

Welcome to WAB lisichka.
I would say your photos show a Wood Blewit and a Clitocybe nebularis (Clouded Agaric). There are lots of these about at the moment often in large groups. The cap of I assume the Blewit is either a different setting on the camera or a different spicies I have never seen a Blewit with a cap that colour.

Mal

[Kayleigh]

Hi and welcome to WAB..

[NickCantle]

I think we have two species here. The photograph at the bottom shows what I would assume is Lepista nuda- the colour is distinctive, and it tends to show the orange hue (as demonstrated here) when waterlogged. A flowery smell like that of orange ice lollies (yes, I know it's ambitious, but I made this deduction after lots of thought over what it reminded me of). Who said that smelling fungi was subjective?

The first image shows something different I think. I would assume it's Clitocybe nebularis, and the gill attachment (or what I can see of it) would back that up.

So I reckon you have two species. Lepista nuda and Clitocybe nebularis, but don't quote me on any of that babble

[lisichka]

Hello Guys! Thank you very much for welcoming me and for the help. I did think that identifying fungi would not be easy, but I didn't think it would be so confusing. Before I found this forum, I was wearing out my books to bits and checking the web comparing images and descriptions, but still I was not sure what these fungi were. I'm still confused a little bit about the spore print on the Lepista nuda. The spore print I had from these mushrooms was creamy-yellow, but it supposed to be pink? Of course, I have only done a spore print for two species and I do not know how the pink print would look like.
Anyway, I've had another hunt at the same glen. I was amazed of how many other fungi I missed (of course there must be hundreds of other species that I still didn't see). One of them was absolutely stunning. I think it's one of the Waxcaps, but I'm not sure which ine. It's has s bright red (not crimson) cup with orange-yellow gills and stem. Very fragile, almost impossible to handle.

[ron1863]

Hi and welcome to WAB

[Chris Yeates]

hi

yes it's a waxcap probably Hygrocybe coccinea; it's useful to take a second shot, showing how the gills attach to the stem and their coloration

but appreciate it was a little old and fragile

have you checked out the British Mycological Society's Fungal Record Database? You can search via species name (Latin I'm afraid), via host species and - very interesting for you - by geographical area

if you link to FRDBI vice-county search

and go down the drop-down list to Isle of Man and enter, it gives a list of the species reliably reported from the island (871 species when I looked); that's a relatively low number - Bretton Park, near where I live in Yorkshire has well over 600 species recorded for quite a small area . . . . clearly lot's of work to be done!

if you are interested, when I have time I'll see if I can spot some species which should be there but haven't been reported yet; how are you on the flowering plants? if you can identify those with a bit of confidence I can guarantee that you will be able to add species to Isle of Man list!

best wishes

Chris

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by lisichka

Hello Guys! Thank you very much for welcoming me and for the help. I did think that identifying fungi would not be easy, but I didn't think it would be so confusing. Before I found this forum, I was wearing out my books to bits and checking the web comparing images and descriptions, but still I was not sure what these fungi were. I'm still confused a little bit about the spore print on the Lepista nuda. The spore print I had from these mushrooms was creamy-yellow, but it supposed to be pink? Of course, I have only done a spore print for two species and I do not know how the pink print would look like.
Anyway, I've had another hunt at the same glen. I was amazed of how many other fungi I missed (of course there must be hundreds of other species that I still didn't see). One of them was absolutely stunning. I think it's one of the Waxcaps, but I'm not sure which ine. It's has s bright red (not crimson) cup with orange-yellow gills and stem. Very fragile, almost impossible to handle.

The waxcap genus it is one of those families that a lot of identifications can be made in the field. The colour of the cap , gills and stem plus whether the cap and the stem are dry greasy or viscus should point you to one species quite often.

Mal