two for id please

[ashgale]

i found this growing on a fallen birch tree recently, quite a large patch of it, covering the main trunk and spreading onto adjoining branches, over the bark,
the nearest i can find in my limited collection of books is Biscogniauxia nummularia, but the only two references i have for that describe it as being found on dead wood of beech,
does this occur only on beech or is it found on other woods ?




the next one is what i presume to be Hypoxylon fragiforme on a felled beech log (several other logs in the area also had the same thing, is the white "growth covering the smaller bodies of the Hypoxylon part of the growth cycle , or is it affected by a parasitic fungi ?
the descriptions state that it starts off a shade of pink, to brown and finally black, so i presume the white "growth" to be something else, the older and larger fruit bodies only have spots of it , whereas the smaller ones are totally covered with it,



any suggestions most welcome,

ashgale.

[Chris Yeates]

hi

the top one is a member of the Diatrypaceae; possibly a Eutypa, but much more likely is Diatrype stigma, very common in these situations, microscopy would confirm

the lower one looks like Hypoxylon fragiforme with its imperfect ("anamorphic") stage preesnt as well; see Hypoxylon fragiforme

there was a lot of discussion re this on this thread: http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...nomycetes.html

including a link to a very striking growth: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_-kXvJeMNiqk/SF...+ochraceum.jpg

which I take to be the imperfect state of Hypoxylon howeianum mentioned in the first link above


cheers

Chris

[ashgale]

Hi, thanks for the info on these,

my books only list Diatrype disciformis, so they were not much help there,
(quick note: must invest in some better literature)
but a quick search for D.stigma came up with some very close matches to your suggestion,

none of the books i have, or the usually spot on A to Z on here shows that stage of the Hypoxylon's cycle,
and most of the ones i have found have been of the fully developed, black type
so your links proved very informative, and shows how complex the subject can be,

thanks,
ashgale.