Help identifying fungi please

[SW Animal Lover]

Hi

Could anyone help me to identify these fungi please?

In 10 years I have never had any fungi in my garden, then I decided to re-turf my law and revamp my flower beds and they seem to be springing up everywhere!

I'm guessing the attached pics are all the same type of fungi?

However, they were all found in slightly different places, the smaller fungi (with a few others) was found growing in the flower bed amongst some viola.

The larger one was growing under some very thick material weed suppresant which in turn was under a layer of wood chippings! I noticed that there was a mound in the wood chippings where there hadnt been before, I touched it and it was soft, I initially thought it was a hibernating toad as I am on the annual toad migration path! But on further investigation found a huge fungi!

Can anyone please tell me what they are and if they are posinous to humans and more importantly to cats?

Many thanks.

[Chris Yeates]

hi

I suspect it is all the same species and therefore should really be termed a "fungus" . . . it's a species of earthball - Scleroderma sp.; probably in the S. areolatum / S. verrusosum area, but they do need close looking at, and examination of the spores is, unfortunately, often required to be certain of an ID to species

cheers

Chris

[SW Animal Lover]

Hi

Thank you Chris for your reply.

Are they posinous to humans or animals do you know? Well animals really as all I do is pick them, put them in a bag, tie a knot in it and put them in the bin!

Thanks

[SW Animal Lover]

P.S. The photos I have looked at for the earthball spieces you have mentioned, all seem to have a rough, warty (as some have described it as) appearance, the ones I found were very smooth. The looked from the top, very much like 'standard' mushrooms you would buy in a shop, but they had no stem, they just had a mass of 'fibers' attached to the surrounding soil. Would the fact they are smooth help with the diagnosis?

They were incredibly spongey and almost hollow feeling, especially the largest one. They didnt smell too pleasant either, not the normally earthy smell I have smelt with the panaeolus ater/foenisecii I have growing in the grass.

Also my fingers itched slightly after picking them, or that could have just me being paranoid, I'm not sure!

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SW Animal Lover

P.S. The photos I have looked at for the earthball spieces you have mentioned, all seem to have a rough, warty (as some have described it as) appearance, the ones I found were very smooth.

that may well be because by far the commonest earthball found in this country - Scleroderma citrinum is warty; but that isn't what you have got there

they're not poisonous as such - but who would consider eating them?

also fungi are much closer to us than they are to plants - they have many "animal" characteristics - so what sort of animal lover would "pick them, put them in a bag, tie a knot in it and put them in the bin!"

tsk tsk!

Chris

[SW Animal Lover]

hehe, I knew if I mentioned my 'method of disposal' that not everyone would agree! I was going to write, "sorry to all the fungi lovers out there"!

I have to confess I dont like 'killing' anything, plants and fungi included! But I have 4 cats who are confined to my house and garden and their safety is my first and foremost concern.

Hence asking if these and the mushrooms on my lawn (identified as panaelous foenisecii/panaeolus ater) were poisonous, as:

1. My cats 'graze' on the lawn several times a day and as one of them has very little sense of smell, I needed to check they wouldnt be harmed if they did accidentally eat them. Something I'm still not sure about - any advice?!

2. The cats sleep amongst the plants and wood chippings in the flower beds, where I found the earthballs, so I guess when I say poisonous, I not only mean if ingested directly, but indirectly by lying on them and then grooming afterwards and also with regards dermatological sensitivities.

If that all makes sense?!

[thelawnet]

Originally Posted by SW Animal Lover

hehe, I knew if I mentioned my 'method of disposal' that not everyone would agree! I was going to write, "sorry to all the fungi lovers out there"!

I have to confess I dont like 'killing' anything, plants and fungi included! But I have 4 cats who are confined to my house and garden and their safety is my first and foremost concern.

Hence asking if these and the mushrooms on my lawn (identified as panaelous foenisecii/panaeolus ater) were poisonous, as:

1. My cats 'graze' on the lawn several times a day and as one of them has very little sense of smell, I needed to check they wouldnt be harmed if they did accidentally eat them. Something I'm still not sure about - any advice?!

2. The cats sleep amongst the plants and wood chippings in the flower beds, where I found the earthballs, so I guess when I say poisonous, I not only mean if ingested directly, but indirectly by lying on them and then grooming afterwards and also with regards dermatological sensitivities.

If that all makes sense?!

Don't know about your cats, but all the cats I encounter go anywhere and everywhere with no regard to boundaries, and I doubt digging up a few harmless fungi in your own garden is going to substantially affect the amount of fungi they come in contact with on their 'patch'.

There's no reason why tiddles should have an allergy to these any more than all the to us rather itchy wood chippings, plants and so on that are already in the flower beds.

I'm not aware of fungi being a major killer of anything, really, so I wouldn't worry.

[John_M]

Originally Posted by SW Animal Lover

hehe, I knew if I mentioned my 'method of disposal' that not everyone would agree! I was going to write, "sorry to all the fungi lovers out there"!

I have to confess I dont like 'killing' anything, plants and fungi included! But I have 4 cats who are confined to my house and garden and their safety is my first and foremost concern.

Hence asking if these and the mushrooms on my lawn (identified as panaelous foenisecii/panaeolus ater) were poisonous, as:

1. My cats 'graze' on the lawn several times a day and as one of them has very little sense of smell, I needed to check they wouldnt be harmed if they did accidentally eat them. Something I'm still not sure about - any advice?!

2. The cats sleep amongst the plants and wood chippings in the flower beds, where I found the earthballs, so I guess when I say poisonous, I not only mean if ingested directly, but indirectly by lying on them and then grooming afterwards and also with regards dermatological sensitivities.

If that all makes sense?!

I also have 4 cats, and I have 2 rabbits. All the cats graze on my grass occasionally, the rabbits have a run which lets them graze. I have several species of fungi which appear at various times, and more on the overgrown area which has a lot of rotting stuff in various piles.
I have never known any of my animals to be injured by any fungus, and I find it difficult to believe that they would be. I think your cats are in far more danger from houseplants than they are from fungi. There is nothing to worry about, as the only animals I have ever known to be poisoned by any mushroom are humans!

[thelawnet]

Originally Posted by John_M

I also have 4 cats, and I have 2 rabbits. All the cats graze on my grass occasionally, the rabbits have a run which lets them graze. I have several species of fungi which appear at various times, and more on the overgrown area which has a lot of rotting stuff in various piles.
I have never known any of my animals to be injured by any fungus, and I find it difficult to believe that they would be. I think your cats are in far more danger from houseplants than they are from fungi. There is nothing to worry about, as the only animals I have ever known to be poisoned by any mushroom are humans!

Actually dogs are poisoned by fungi, apparently fairly regularly. I think cats are a bit smarter though. More Dogs Sickened By Toxic Mushrooms - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver

[John_M]

Originally Posted by thelawnet

Actually dogs are poisoned by fungi, apparently fairly regularly. I think cats are a bit smarter though. More Dogs Sickened By Toxic Mushrooms - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver

That's interesting, never heard of that before; doing a bit of research, it would seem that dogs are more prone to this because of their scavenging nature. I'll eat my words and hope they're not toxic...