Kilvey Hill 19-11-11

It's been almost a month since I went up Kilvey Hill and did a full search, going to parts of the hill that I've never ventured too before which bore some surprising finds. On the way to the hill I came across Mycena vitilis/Snapping Bonnet (above) and Tricholoma fulvum/Birch Knight, (below). This Knight has a very long stipe that goes deep into the soil.

Also on the way were two more Tricholomas, T.focale and Tricholoma scalpturatum/Yellowing Knight, the photo below is of Tricholoma scalpturatum. It fruits in the same place every year at the bottom of Kilvey Road but this year in  numbers I couldn't count.

Below is a Cortinarius but there are so many in this family (at least 600) that identification is near impossible.

Another Knight, this time Tricholoma equestre/Yellow Knight. It's a regularly fruiting fungi here and stands out a mile since it's one of only two yellow Knights.

And another Knight this one is Tricholoma focale.

Along one path was Peziza badia/Bay Cup,. This was the first time that I've ever seen it in such numbers. This year for some reason there seems to have been a glut of particular species. What struck me about these was their size. They were particularly large.

On a path that I have never taken before I came across an area of land where the trees were less dense and the ground covered in moss, amongst the moss was this very small Mycena..at least that's what I think it is at the moment.

On the Port Tennant side of Kilvey Hill there are places where wood chip has been left under the trees. Tree bark mulch is favorable to many species of fungi and here, covering many square feet were a variety of 'woodchip' fungi. Below is Hypholoma marginatum/Snakeskin brownie. In the front is Pluteus cervinus/Deer Shield.

On the way down and home I also came across Collybia butyracea/Butter cap, here in a fairy ring.

And finally Amanita muscaria/Fly agaric. It's worth saying here that where I found this was severly damaged by fire earlier in the year and I feard that this mushroom would suffer as a result but not so. In fact there were many out and curiously all found on the Port Tennant side of the hill.

Fly Agaric. The Gravity of the Situation.

I found an Amanita muscaria/Fly agaric at pluck lake in the week. The cap of the specimen I took had not opened but two days later had completely expanded, strangely enough the cap had seemed to have bent itself to a horizontal position, even though it was lying down in a collection box.

For mushrooms to drop their spores it's obvious that the cap should be horizontal and remarkably, for many mushrooms, even after being picked or knocked over the stem can curve so that the cap remains upright, revealing what's called negative geotropism, (or gravitropism) that is, naturally responding to gravity to maintain the cap in a horizontal position.

The behaviour can be seen below.

6 Mushrooms/ 22nd of August 2010

Morning Walk.
On the 22nd of August I went for a quick wander to see if I could find anything within fifteen minutes walk. By the time I came home I had three mushrooms but special ones, at least to me.
There's a path very close to where I live but one I seldom visit and there shining out was, no pun intended; an earthstar, one of the strangest mushrooms.

The sac on top is filled with spores and when a drop of water or any thing that touches the elastic like sac, with the lightest of force releases spores through a tiny opening at the top. It has a bowl or collar underneath the spore sac. The legs that lift it up are called 'rays'. This particular mushroom is Geastrum triplex/Collared Earthstar.
I pick this one and put in my collection box. As I walk further down the road I can hear it bump about and needless to say when I open the lid the inside is covered in spores.

Further down the path I find (for the first time this year) Amanita muscaria/Fly Agaric. It's growing the same place as two years ago. I didn't see it last year. I've always been fond of this mushroom. These are very large, growing in a bank covered by bracken and next to birch. The largest was about 20 cms wide and some had lost all their warts and a lot of colour.

At the bottom of the path was this Tricholoma. Possibly Tricholoma columbetta. Along with some Birch Boletes.

Afternoon Walk.
Later on down foxhole there are still Boletus pulverulentus/Inkstain Bolete which are about in great numbers. Dozens of them. The dark blue occurs when it's cut or bruised in anyway, (See below).

Alongside the road that runs by Sainsburys are Scleroderma citrinum/Common Earthball in large numbers. I've seen a great deal of Earthballs of all kinds, all over Swansea this year.

Also at Sainsburys, growing in the bark mulch is Leratiomyces ceres/Redlead Roundhead. This is also known as Stropharia aurantiaca.


Swansea Foxhole path/Sainburys 22-8-10
Geastrum triplex/Collared Earthstar.
Tricholoma columbetta
Amanita muscaria/Fly Agaric.
Boletus pulverulentus/Inkstain Bolete
Scleroderma citrinum/Common Earthball
Leratiomyces ceres/Redlead Roundhead. (Stropharia aurantiaca).