Reedbed fungus

[Adam Cheeseman]

Hi Folks,

this fungus was growing on leaf litter in one of our reedbeds. Any ideas please. The gills are concolorous and the stipe was dark brown.






Cheers,

Adam

[Chris Yeates]

hi Adam

I'm afraid that when you get on to these little brown(ish) jobs there is virtually no chance of getting an I/D based on macro-characters

Chris

[gleditsa]

when looking at this post, the reedbed habitat seemed to ring a bell, as i remembered seeing something about a fungi that grows only on reed stems,
i finally tracked it down to an old booklet by E.A Ellis i have, in which he describes a "Reed elf cap - Mycena belliae , which according to the description, has umbrella like heads which sprout in clusters from the base of reed stems in the final stages of decay, just at water level, the caps are white at first, changing to brown, while the stems, eventually black, are attached to the reeds by cottony strands,"

it is apparently very common in the Norfolk Broads, in july to november, (big hint for Mr Cantle to don his waders and foray forth to the reedbeds of Norfolk )

in more modern books, the description differs somewhat to this one though,

its probably something completely different, but given the habitat, worth a look, if only to discount this species, as there cant be too many other fungi in this habitat, or can they ??

j.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by gleditsa

when looking at this post, the reedbed habitat seemed to ring a bell, as i remembered seeing something about a fungi that grows only on reed stems,
i finally tracked it down to an old booklet by E.A Ellis i have, in which he describes a "Reed elf cap - Mycena belliae . . . . the description differs somewhat to this one though,

its probably something completely different, but given the habitat, worth a look, if only to discount this species, as there cant be too many other fungi in this habitat, or can they ??

j.

there cant be too many other fungi in this habitat, or can they??

if you think about it . . . damp habitat . . . lots of rotting vegetation - doesn't sound like the sort of habitat a fungus would like, does it?

I wish I lived somewhere with such a habitat close to hand; while there are a lot of micro-fungi in this habitat, there are also quite a number of agarics; Mycena belliae is a lovely fungus - I look forward to finding it someday . . .; but this is not that fungus by any means (note the dark spore deposit on some of the gills for a start; belliae has pale, deeply decurrent gills, and grows directly on the standing reed stems at or a little above the waterline); the genus most likely for consideration in this sort of habitat is Naucoria, a number of which are associated with alders - hence an earlier generic synonym - Alnicola

I'm not saying this is definitely a Naucoria, and even then - as I hinted at above - it's a difficult genus - impossible without a microscope (in Funga Nordica the first couplet in the key separates species with urticoid cheilocystidia from those with an obtuse, clavate or capitate apex!)

cheers

Chris

[diggleken]

I have had Laccaria laccata (what else?) growing directly on rotting stuff in a submerged canal habitat, in the wetness, but unsure what the substrate was, defo the deceiver though.
So thats one you might not expect.............
Cheers
Ken

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by diggleken

I have had Laccaria laccata (what else?) growing directly on rotting stuff in a submerged canal habitat, in the wetness, but unsure what the substrate was, defo the deceiver though.
So thats one you might not expect.............
Cheers
Ken

hi Ken

of course you saw the fungus and I didn't but in this habitat "defo the deceiver" might not necessarily be 100% "defo"

Laccaria tortilis likes damp soil, as does Laccaria pumila and possibly others

L. pumila (often misidentified as L. striatula in this country in the past) is what I am sure is what is misidentified in Fungi of Switzerland 3, p. 202 as L. fraterna - in that book the description of the habitat is: "On the banks of streams and lakes . . . in damp places under bushes near Salix and Alnus"

both L. tortilis and L. pumila have 2-spored basidia

I check every Laccaria I come across under the 'scope; when you have a genus which the currently sadly-absent Andreas is very cautious about, it's not one to be taken lightly

cheers

Chris

[diggleken]

Hi Chris,
'defo' (sorry, got lazy), only cos I put it on WAB and got a good ID!! But that was a long time ago and Andreas wasnt about ................if he is cautious,well,HHHMMMM it may well not have been L. laccata! But sure was right from what I now see so often in the field.
I will need to revise my approach for them, but you are surely right.
Cheers
Ken

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by diggleken

Hi Chris,
'defo' (sorry, got lazy), only cos I put it on WAB and got a good ID!! But that was a long time ago and Andreas wasnt about ................if he is cautious,well,HHHMMMM it may well not have been L. laccata! But sure was right from what I now see so often in the field.
I will need to revise my approach for them, but you are surely right.
Cheers
Ken

was it this thread?

Water fungi puzzle?

because it was a Tubaria and Andreas wasabout?



Chris

[SheffieldLass]

Well I found a Laccaria laccata lookalike right next to a stream the other day. I guess I better get the microscope to it, see if it has 2 or 4 spored basidia.