A few more fungi

Most people will agree that this has been a good autumn for mushrooms and toadstools with some of the common species being particularly abundant. I don't think I've ever seen so much White Saddle (Helvella crispa) along roadsides and woodland paths.

White Saddle (Helvella crispa) at side of forest road, Pelenna Forest, Ton Mawr

Elfin Saddle (Helvella lacunosa), which is usually described as a common species, is much less common in my opinion but has been turning up too, as has Elastic Saddle (Helvella elastica).

Elfin Saddle (Helvella lacunosa) Pant y Saes

There was a large amount of Sulphur Knight (Tricholoma sulphureum) along the edges of Earlswood Golf Course a few weeks ago. One of the really distinctive characteristics of this specie is the strong smell of the fruiting bodies. Most books describe it as 'gas tar' but it reminds me of naphthalene (moth balls).

Sulphur Knight (Tricholoma sulphureum), Earlswood Golf Course

 While walking along the Coastal Path near the Quays, Hilary spotted a group of tan coloured caps under a planted shrubbery (mostly Hazel and Birch). As is often the case in such places there was a significant amount wood mulch, possibly coniferous in origin. I originally thought the fungus was a Funnel (Clitocybe sp.), and fixed in that conviction I later (and wrongly) identified it as Clitocybe vermicularis. The tan colour of the cap, the lack of any noticeable smell and the small spores (5 x 3 microns) led in me that direction fairly unambiguously using the keys in Funga Nordica However, after preparing a spore print, several days later, I examined the spores under high magnification (x1000) - see photo below. It is fairly clear that the spores are warty/spiny (verrucose) and that rules out Clitocybe, which I hadn't noticed in my preliminary examination at lower magnification. It is, in fact, Tawny Funnel, Lepista flaccida (formally called Clitocybe inverse), which is fairly common and widespread in southern Britain

Lepista flaccida, The Quays

Lepista flaccida, The Quays

Verrucose spores of Lepista flaccida  (from spore print of Quays specimen)