2 fungi found on grass verge for id please

[the naturelover]

evening all said yesterday i would be back. had a cracking day found loads of specimins and all in pristine condition for once. but as for id's the first one dont have a clue both were found on a grass verge between a meadow and a footpath.

this one i thought would be a doddle with its distinctive cap but cant find a match.
anyone id please. tn

[solus]

Please don't take my word for it as I can't identify much at all but I think the second one is Parasola plicatilis (formerly Coprinus plicatilis).

[Chris Yeates]

hi

top one is Stropharia coronilla - that ring when viewed from above is diagnostic

see this recent post: Help with Stropharia confirmation please

bottom one is indeed a Parasola - I check the spores of each and every one of these now - I think Melanie has been finding that in her patch near Scarborough true P. plicatilis is actually rather rare - you simply cannot do these in the field IMHO

cheers

Chris

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

hi


bottom one is indeed a Parasola - I check the spores of each and every one of these now - I think Melanie has been finding that in her patch near Scarborough true P. plicatilis is actually rather rare - you simply cannot do these in the field IMHO

cheers

Chris

Yes, I found 4 Parasola two days ago, and checked them all. 2 were Parasola kuehneri, one was Parasola plicatilis, and one was Parasola leiocephala. I wouldn't have been able to tell the last two apart, and they were very similar to the first two as well. The last two were growing only a few feet apart too. And all were growing in a small area, part of a small vale. And in the same area a week or so before there was also P schroeteri. And only a mile or so away was P hercules. In fact my grand total for P plicatilis is now 2!

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Yes, I found 4 Parasola two days ago, and checked them all. 2 were Parasola kuehneri, one was Parasola plicatilis, and one was Parasola leiocephala. I wouldn't have been able to tell the last two apart, and they were very similar to the first two as well. The last two were growing only a few feet apart too. And all were growing in a small area, part of a small vale. And in the same area a week or so before there was also P schroeteri. And only a mile or so away was P hercules. In fact my grand total for P plicatilis is now 2!

Melanie

is it not strange that - with a bit of care (and a microscope and experience! - of which you clearly have more than me, but I'm working on it - I like "Coprinus" in the broad sense) - these can be separated relatively easily - yet cladistics have shown that Parasola is very close to Psathyrella . . . .

'nuff said

Chris

[the naturelover]

once again what i thought would be an easy id turned out ugly. i must find a shaggy inkcap or a fly agaric i think. many thanks to you all as usual for your time and brilliant info. regards tn

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by the naturelover

once again what i thought would be an easy id turned out ugly. i must find a shaggy inkcap or a fly agaric i think. many thanks to you all as usual for your time and brilliant info. regards tn

no! that really isn't the way to think about it - getting it to Parasola - which you'll soon - if not already - be able to do is progress in itself

you can dry Parasola very easily - and they don't take up lots of room - keep them in small envelopes with when and where collected / habitat notes etc.; one day you might get a rush of blood and get a microscope - then you will join those of us who frequent this strange netherworld of late night confusion - and Parasola spores would be a great intoduction to measuring and keying them out - which they generally do very nicely

alternatively . . . you could wait until midwinter and Melanie is chuntering about there being nothing around because it's too cold and too dry and you send her a sweet PM and say "could you do my Parasolas for me please?"

basically, it's down to what you want to get out of this fungus lark - if it's some decent photos with a name to them then for the moment Parasola sp. is fine isn't it? If you are wanting to start to make lists for your local patch, send records to the appropriate recorders, then that can be a later target

and I guarantee - that you'll be able to recognise Stropharia coronilla at a glance this time next year!

you started this thread by saying that you had a cracking day with lots of specimens - that can in itself be a drawback, when starting out try almost to under-collect - I know it's difficult - the hunting instinct takes over, but you can end up with lots of material which you haven't time to study carefully enough; photographs can make us a little lazy, trying drawing some - they don't have to be works of art, but you sure as heck find you're really looking at all their characters

I don't want to tell anyone how they should approach mycology, it's each to their own of course, but the bottom line is that the closest parallel is with entomology - there are some butterfly equivalents, but there are far more non-descript brown and grey moths, puzzling beetles, parasitic hymenoptera, and even more unfamiliar groups

I've rambled on; I hope some of the above is of use/encouragement . . . . anyway, what do I know? I've only been looking at these things for 30-odd years and I still can't recognise Volvariella gloiocephala!!

best

C

[solus]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Yes, I found 4 Parasola two days ago, and checked them all. 2 were Parasola kuehneri, one was Parasola plicatilis, and one was Parasola leiocephala. I wouldn't have been able to tell the last two apart, and they were very similar to the first two as well. The last two were growing only a few feet apart too. And all were growing in a small area, part of a small vale. And in the same area a week or so before there was also P schroeteri. And only a mile or so away was P hercules. In fact my grand total for P plicatilis is now 2!

Melanie

*Sob* I've only just got round to re-naming my photos from Coprinus - now it looks like I'm going to have to call most of them something sp.! (Apart from my Scutellinia subhirtella which Chris kindly did the microscopy on so I know that's a correct ID!)

4 years ago I thought this fungus stuff was going to be easy, a good way of adding interest to a walk at a time of year when the birds, butterflies and flowers were all "quiet" and that I'd be able to identify almost everything from a couple of simple books and a (sometimes grotty) photo - the more I've learned, the more I discover there is to learn and the goalposts rapidly keep moving further away into the distance! I still like to find the full name but for many fungi I now accept that "sp." is the best I'll be able to manage without a microscope and it is still fun to find and photograph something "new" - although without the help from the good folk on the WAB Fungus Forum I'd have a lot more "unidentifieds"!

[the naturelover]

chris. Many thanks for the info and your comments. i am improving you should have seen me last year trying to stuff a camera underneath spicimins to pickie the gills without disturbing it! i now know to smell and cut them in half and touch them! and agree wholeheartedly with the comments made by solus. i thought take a few pickies get a couple of books and away you go. but it is mighty hard even when as i now do you make notes about situation shape gills etc. i appreciate that to realy identify species i will have to go down the microscope route and intend to read up on it but i suspect that i will be opening an even bigger can of worms. some years ago i used to climb with 2 mates 1 was an astronomer the other was fungi mad. in the day the one would suddenly stop and point out different fungi and tell me all about genus etc. at night the other would drag me outside to see ursa something or the flying tiger. to this day i still cant identify much more than the sun moon and possibly milkyway. the same with mushrooms BUT I am still facinated and love looking and trying to name things. once again thanks for the encouragement. tn