Small white fungi for ID

[Gaina]

I found this in my garden on Saturday. I live in North Somerset, if that helps to ID it. They were like tiny white bubbles and as you can see some of them have split at the top.

[Ditiola]

Hi
I am not sure that this is a fungus, Was it attached to the ground? what was inside when cut in half? Looks more like Syphoricarpus berries or similar.

Peter

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Hi
I am not sure that this is a fungus, Was it attached to the ground? what was inside when cut in half? Looks more like Syphoricarpus berries or similar.

Peter

Hello Pete

It was right in the middle of the lawn and 'tethered' to the ground with a thin stalk. I've had a mooch around my garden and we don't actually have a Syphoricarpus.

The 'bubble' bit you can see was also extremely small - smaller tha the berries you mentioned - and appeared to be hollow. If you look closely at the photo there's one at the top of the frame on the right that looks like the skin has split to allow spores to 'puff' out.

[Ditiola]

Perhaps we need to wait to see what others make of this one!

The only fungi I know of with a spore sack attached to a thin stem is Tulostoma, and they are usually found in sand dunes and even in their habitat they are very uncommon.

Peter

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Perhaps we need to wait to see what others make of this one!

The only fungi I know of with a spore sack attached to a thin stem is Tulostoma, and they are usually found in sand dunes and even in their habitat they are very uncommon.

Peter

Trust me to come up with an oddity! They were literally like tiny bubbles nestled tight into the grass. I went back to the same spot today to see if they'd changed shape or anything and they'd gone!

I'll keep my eye out for more and see if I can get better photos next time .

[FungiJohn]

I would say this is a very good candidate for Tulostoma niveum. A very good find indeed if correct.

John

[fairplay]

That is a possibility John, but Tulostoma are like tiny Battarraea phalloides which turn quite woody and can take several years to break down.

Gaina now says they are "Gone" - virtually disappeared over night, unless they have dried out and shrunk, but they should still be easy to see.

Sounds like they may have been eaten and I can't think of any fungi that are that appealing to wild creatures looking like this. Very strange.

Neil.
Edit: Looking at the photo again, I think it is safe to rule out T.niveum as there is no centrally located raised opening (peristome) where the spores shoot out of, also a gelatinous substance seems to be visible which Tulostoma doesn't have.

[FungiJohn]

It certainly is an odd one Neil.

Roy Watling points out that it may have been in Britain for a much longer time and missed out due to it’s ‘rather cryptic colours and specialised habitat’ … But he was referring to Scottish mountains!

If only we had a sample

John

[FungiJohn]

With a little help from our good friend Nick:

From your description, most probably a Tulostoma (the basidiomes appear to be strting to form a dimple in the centre, as the peristome starts to develop) but more likely to be Tulostoma brumale which is the most frequent species in Britain, usually in coastal situations, but known from some inland sites as well - but my usual proviso applies (microscopy).

T. niveum is a strictly montane / boreal taxon which wouldn't (I suspect) be in North Somerset.

John

[Gaina]

Thanks everyone . I shall keep my eyes peeled for more of them