Rare Nail Fungus - Poronia punctata

[Keith Talbot]

Hi all,

Just thought id share this incase some havent already seen the pic in the Gallery,

While doing conservation work in the New Forest we rewarded by finding the very rare Nail Fungus - Poronia punctata.



I dont know how upto date the info on the web that i found is but it is now considered to be one of the rarest fungus in Europe!

The spores are ingested by ponies whilst grazing, and passed out with their dung. The spores germinate and form the mycelium of the nail fungus, eventually producing the visible fruiting bodies after the dung has had time to weather.

Most of the credit must go to Si (Deer Stalker) for the eagle eyed observation .

You'll never know how much Horse dung i have looked at in the last 4 months looking for this stuff!

Keith

[fairplay]

Hi Keith,

In Suffolk we have more and more Pony's being introduced to improve the heathland - I think they are Exmoor and Dartmoor.
To save me looking it up, is it the case that irrespective of what type of horse is introduced, it's last meal must involve ingesting the spores of Poronia before it is put to new pasture (in Suffolk) for there to be any chance of Poronia spreading ?

So if that is the case then, if the fungus was not present where the Pony's were before, there isn't much point in my looking at lots of lovely horse poo in Suffolk hoping to find it.

Neil.

[CapAndBracket]

This is a species i have spent some time looking for and failed.
We have 10-12 exmore ponies on the common that foal there each year, i am told by those in the know that i'm unlilely to find the species there at the moment as the ponies were drenched for parasites (internal) last year. The same applies for the 160+ cattle roaming relatively free.

But looking has produced some good finds, i remember well the Coprinus sterquilinus (4 finds) in 2008, last year i saw none of these, so was i looking in the wrong place at the time, where did they come from, as well as the perhaps limited possibility of spore arrival by air, there is a chance on imported feed (some hay was put out during the snow) or i can just about imagine spores arriving on species that use dung as a food source (some birds).

Nature is eternally fascinating with it's ability to confound us, keep looking there is always a chance of the eureka moment.

Cheers J.P.

[Keith Talbot]

Originally Posted by fairplay

Hi Keith,

is it the case that irrespective of what type of horse is introduced, it's last meal must involve ingesting the spores of Poronia before it is put to new pasture (in Suffolk) for there to be any chance of Poronia spreading ?


Neil.

As far as i understand thats right with it not being very widespread the chances of the horse ingesting it in the first place is pretty low

[Ditiola]

Keith
Excellent find I have looked for this many times but had no luck, great photo too.

Peter

[FungiJohn]

Yes, excellent Keith. One I would love to see too!

John

[Keith Talbot]

Thanks Pete and John,

Ironic thing was we wernt looking for it! We were just pulling up pine trees on heathland doing conservation work when Si spotted it!

[Leif]

It is rare in Britain as a whole, but it is not uncommon in the New Forest, which seems to be a stronghold, no doubt due to the profusion of ponies. Those are beautiful specimens and it is a nice photo. Check out the FRDBI:

British Fungi - record details