Heboloma crustuliniforme?

[JennyS]

(Of course, what I really need, is a cheap, pocketable, dna analyser, incorporating complete onboard fungi of Great Britain dna database.

Now that would be a really useful bit of gear - can I have one as well please!

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

there still an awful lot one can do with some good books

Chris

I couldn't agree with you more Chris

John

[PMG]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

hope you've cheered up, young Pauline!

sadly fungi haven't reached "a critical stage" it's that we humans were often sloppy when looking at them in the past, and often well-known and well-used macro-characters have proved to be unreliable; that isn't always the case - Clitocybe is largely separated on macro-characters, micro features not really being very distinctive a lot of the time (though it can lead to decisions as to whether gills are "greyish-brown" or "brownish-grey" - which I when I get my coat)

there still an awful lot one can do with some good books, though; I don't want to put anyone off mycology for heaven's sake; it's just that some groups - Hebeloma being a prime example are (even) more complicated than previously thought - and still not fully sorted; I suspect that Leccinum is a similar case in point - I can't understand the complexities of the "scabrum" like ones - look at all the work Melanie is putting in and she still gets confused

the fungi are not in the business of making their identification easy for humans after all; I know that if I collect a Hebeloma that is my evening gone (forget looking at anything else) and even then I may have to leave it as section x or section y . . . . .

cheers

Chris

I haven't cheered up Chris - things just going too wrong at my end at the min for me to get cheerful - but - I have calmed down about fungi - well a bit - well almost .... well a little ..... some maybe ........ It just gets me goat that just as I thought 40 years of getting to grips was begining to pay off and then suddenly - rug - from under - flat on face - start relearning - and that was the point I said 'chuff-it' enough - I'm giving in and waving the white flag and returning to photographing something - anything that takes my eye and is beautiful and 'grass sods' to actually naming it ....

Pauline