Flammulaster or Tubaria or something else?

[SheffieldLass]

This was found growing on a rotten fallen twig which is either ash (which was the nearest tree) or oak. When I did the microscopy the cheilocystidia and spores looked rather familiar, like all those Tubaria furfuracea I was finding throughout the winter . Only the colour of the cap, stem and gills doesn't look right. I did notice a sideways step in the key to Flammulaster, though by way of rhomboid spores, which these don't have. But I decided to investigate there anyway . Flammulaster limmulatus doesn't have rhomboid spores, and does seem to fit, both in spore size and shape, and in cheilocystidia. It looks more like a Flammulaster than a Tubaria, to me at any rate , on the macroscopic level ...

Spore size: (7.5) 7.8-8.8 (9.5) x (4.1) 4.5 - 5 um Qav 1.7
cheilocystidia 32-41um long, with head dia 6.3-9um.

These were of the pileipellis:

10x


All comments greatly appreciated ....

Thanks

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

hi Melanie

what is it with you and these Earle genera? - beats me

I don't know Flammulaster at all well (apart from a couple of the commoner ones) so am reluctant to say too much

are those larger basidiospores in one of the photo's just contaminants?

those cheilocystidia don't seem to match the illustration or description of F. limulatus in Funga Nordica *- but after all you have the thing in front of you . . .

best

Chris

* doh! - I was looking at the pileipellis! - retract that comment completely - yes that looks a good match - keep the material (I'm sure you will); if this ID is correct and it was found in Yorkshire then it's a second county record and first VC63 record

nice one

C

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

hi Melanie

what is it with you and these Earle genera? - beats me

I don't know Flammulaster at all well (apart from a couple of the commoner ones) so am reluctant to say too much

are those larger basidiospores in one of the photo's just contaminants?

those cheilocystidia don't seem to match the illustration or description of F. limulatus in Funga Nordica *- but after all you have the thing in front of you . . .

best

Chris

* doh! - I was looking at the pileipellis! - retract that comment completely - yes that looks a good match - keep the material (I'm sure you will); if this ID is correct and it was found in Yorkshire then it's a second county record and first VC63 record

nice one

C

Thanks, Chris

Yes those large spores are contaminants, from a Psilocybe coprophila that got to share the same container. I'm surprised it didn't get covered with Boletus edulis and Russula spores too, there were about 15 different fungi all having to share the same container, including a Galerina calyptrata (another of those Earle lbjs ).

And I've just spotted the dried up material, shrunk to almost nothing, still on my desk .... it is now about to be put somewhere safe.

But I've also just checked back to something I found in the same wood in June that was rather similar. Though that one had lots of dark pigmented basidia or cystidia. Cheilocystidia and spore sizes are slightly different to this recent one, but not sure if the difference is significant. Though the one of a few days ago had the very occasional pigmented basidia (but no sign of any pleurocystidia that I was aware of).

Flammulaster, Phaeomarasmius or ... ?

By the way, never found the twig of that one again, but I did decide in the end that it was probably oak, not birch. The oak bark on twigs does end up looking rather like birch when it has weathered and rotted, seems to go rather smooth, at least to my inexperienced eyes.

Cheers

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Thanks, Chris

Yes those large spores are contaminants, from a Psilocybe coprophila that got to share the same container. I'm surprised it didn't get covered with Boletus edulis and Russula spores too, there were about 15 different fungi all having to share the same container, including a Galerina calyptrata (another of those Earle lbjs ).

slapped legs! get some small- medium-sized plastic toolboxes / fishing tackle boxes with separate compartments . . . LIDL often have these sort of things

and clean them out well after use

(can't believe a man is giving a woman a lecture on orderliness and cleanliness - just seems kinda . . . wrong )

lol

C

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

slapped legs! get some small- medium-sized plastic toolboxes / fishing tackle boxes with separate compartments . . . LIDL often have these sort of things

and clean them out well after use

(can't believe a man is giving a woman a lecture on orderliness and cleanliness - just seems kinda . . . wrong )

lol

C

Cheeky ... My tubs (of cool black octagonal design) match my rucksac, fleece jacket, watchstrap, shoelaces and socks, in fact coordinate with all my clothes, and they stack nicely in my compact rucksack (aka handbag) and organised fridge . Which, for a woman is of far greater importance than any risk of cross contamination .

Perhaps I could check out the girlie help-yourself salad bar for their stackable divided containers
Or the Lidl bits and bobs circular/hexagonal boxes for the needlewoman .

Or maybe I should buy a few cornets to go with those black ice cream tubs I use ... just nibble the top down to the right size, put fungi stem in first, fit them radially in the tub, they'd be just the job for toadstools . And that'd provide some snackettes whilst out foraying too (and the ideal antidote to those girlie low blood sugar crashes). Those Lidl men's plastic tool/fishing tackle boxes are just to manly ... i.e. big, unnecessarily space consuming, downright awkward, and square ....

Melanie

[SheffieldLass]

Oh, and I was just downloading the photos of my most recent foray, and lo and behold, another of those Flammulaster type fungi, this one from a wood at the other end of the site. I'd forgotten i'd even found that one. I just need to dust off the Dermoloma, Psathyrella and Hygrocybe spores , with which it has been cohabiting (in a black tub), and see whether it matches either of the other two. This one was growing probably on ash, but may have been sycamore.

Will post, time permitting ....

Melanie