Nectria sp.? Any ideas, please.

[solus]

I started by asking about this one in the Myxo section but thanks to Stickman's reply it looks like it's a fungus after all!

Myxo? Any thoughts?

I know it's a long shot (especially after I initially thought it was a Myxomycete - trying to be too clever again, see!) but can anyone suggest which Nectria it might be? As it didn't look anything like the N. cinnabarina I've found before I discounted that as a possibility and went down the myxo minefield way instead!.



Sorry about the poor quality pics - I took the compact camera out that day and it doesn't do close-up very well!

It looked like blood smeared on the (felled) tree from a distance, but on very close inspection was actually masses of tiny blobs.

[Chris Yeates]

hi

what consistency were the blobs? The growth habit looks all wrong for a myxo; I think Nectria is a definite possibility, though I don't associate them with extensive areas of decorticated wood such as this

there's not a huge amount to go on - as you yourself acknowledge

cheers


Chris

[solus]

We only went for a walk Chris!

They were hard BUT that's hardly surprising as it had been a pretty heavy frost overnight so everything was still frozen and solid. That's why I wasn't expecting to see much in the fungi department and only took the compact camera. However, it's possible we may be able to go back one day in the week for another look-see but after several more hard frosts I'm not sure what we'll find.

[Ditiola]

Hi
I found this Nectria last year on a decorticated log. At the time I identified it as Nectria fuckeliana (perhaps be careful when searching for this species name on the internet

Peter

[mollisia]

Hello Peter,

then the log was from a coniferous tree, I suppose? I have found this species only on Picea up to now, and in literature it is said to be coniferous.

Originally Posted by Ditiola

(perhaps be careful when searching for this species name on the internet)

What the .... do you mean by that?

best regards,
Andreas

[solus]

Actually, while I don't know for sure, I don't think "my" tree was a conifer. The woodland it came from is mostly deciduous - Beech predominantly with some other species including Sycamore and Ash. I also recall there were parts still with bark and while I didn't look particularly closely, I thought it may have been Beech. Part of the same log, complete with red "bloodstains", can be seen (out of focus) in the top left hand background to this photo:



I will definitely try to get back there this week but at the moment it is bitterly cold and very frosty with what the weather people are calling "white cloud" but I would say is closer to fog and not really what one (this one anyway!) would choose to go out walking in.

I do like that name Peter! I can just hear Himself asking why we can't just go for a walk without me having to look at ... funguses!!!

[Ditiola]

Yes my log was coniferous: It is the only Nectria I have found where the individual fruit bodies were evenly spread on the outside of the wood and not eruptant in small clusters

Peter