I can't find this one in any book

[Lemars]

Could someone please identify this fungus ? I've searched several books and still been unable to be sure what it is.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by Lemars

Could someone please identify this fungus ? I've searched several books and still been unable to be sure what it is.

Hi Lemars, i think you have a Ganoderma species, judging by the brown spore deposit that is everywhere,
one of the better informed members will be along to either confirm or correct my id

ashgale.

[Chris Yeates]

hi

looks like Ganoderma lucidum

cheers

Chris

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lemars

Could someone please identify this fungus ? I've searched several books and still been unable to be sure what it is.

I would agree with Chris, this looks like Ganoderma lucidum. Nice find, this is one of the rarer Ganoderma species of the so called 'laquered brackets' because their laquered appearance. To absolutely certain you would have to check the spore size under a microscope, as G. resinaceum can also produce frutibodies with pseudo stems. However, I do believe this to be G. lucidum.

Andy

[Lemars]

Thank you Chris and Andy. I've looked it up and now I can see what you mean, though the photo in the book is very dissimilar. I just might call on you two another time !!!!
Thank you again

[Lemars]

Sorry - I missed you out, Ashgale. You started the ball rolling and I didn't thank you. Thank you, too !!

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Lemars

. . . . though the photo in the book is very dissimilar . . . .

the problem is that fungus fruitbodies are very variable - in a sense each is unique, and they are what we make our initial attempts at identification from

most other organisms - birds, mammals, flowers etc. are much less variable and so are a little easier to get a handle on

there is no substitute for getting as much experience as you can - following a fruitbody like this through its growth stages, for example - and going out with people who know their stuff; there is no such thing as a "typical" fruitbody - which is why some of the better books still use coloured paintings - they can be more "generalised"

Chris

[Lemars]

Thank you for your reply Chris. I think I'd like you in my pocket on a daily basis, by the sound of things.
I have 8 books on fungal-things and find that - even so - it's often impossible to be sure what I've come across. Experience counts, as you so rightly say (and I can tell, you've had lots), but I find myself lost in a myriad of fungus, moths, butterflies, plants and bees.
It's all wonderful stuff and without people like you, I'd be scratching my head even more (as it is, the reading glasses are getting stronger and stronger for poring-over sessions - fruitlessly, more often than not).

I've taken many spore prints, but mainly, I admit, because they're SO beautiful.
I don't doubt there will be more as the year progresses.
Thank you again for your reply.