Parasola hercules

SheffieldLass · #1 (**permalink**) 29-07-2010, 09:49 AM

So another interesting Parasola to add to my growing list of them .... Parasola hercules.

Found yesterday on a heathy ride in Wykeham Forest, right in the middle of the path, which was sandy and sparsely vegetated. I didn't have my camera with me as it was an impromptu walk. So these were the photos after I'd brought it home and played around with it and put it out to dry, and had then discovered that there were only 5 records of it in the UK so far .... They won't make the coffee table book

but they do give something of the colour and general demeanor ... a bit pinker than the normal P plicatilis/P schroeteri, and the gills a bit more distant. The gills were surprisingly robust (or my scalpel is now extremely blunt ....) I'll pop up there today to see if there are any others for a better photo.

The very large rounded heart-shaped spores help id this.
(13.9) 14.2-15.7 (16.7) x (12.4) 13.1-14.8 (15.2)um
Average 15.0 x 13.9 um, Qav 1.1

Somewhat different sort of habitat from the other records, not lawn or amenity ground on clayey soil but heathy, sandy, unimproved though disturbed ground.

Melanie

Chris Yeates · #2 (**permalink**) 29-07-2010, 09:52 PM

Look, Melanie, I'm trying to produce a definitive County List!

Can you pleeeeeease stop finding new species for a while

having said that, I added a new micro-fungus last weekend (details soon on the Fungal Plant Parasites thread) so who am I to talk?

Chris

SheffieldLass · #3 (**permalink**) 29-07-2010, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

I'll pop up there today to see if there are any others for a better photo.

Somewhat different sort of habitat from the other records, not lawn or amenity ground on clayey soil but heathy, sandy, unimproved though disturbed ground.

Melanie

No sign of any more, however there were plenty of daisies in the ground. Maybe this is the link with lawns and amenity grass. Otherwise it is miles apart in terms of habitat. This has sedges, wavy hair grass, St John's wort, hawkweeds or do I mean hawkbits, orange birch boletes (they seem to like to pop up in the middle of the path), some as yet nameless Entolomas. Very nice heathy, sandy path. And buzzards mewing overhead. In fact quite idyllic ....