Kilvey Hill 22-02-11

A damp misty day.. I felt I better have a look up Kilvey Hill to see what was about. At this time of year the emphasis is on looking for fungi that grows on dead wood and there is plenty of that around on the hill.
Not everything found was a 'bracket', 'crust' or 'curtain' and one in particular was a mystery.

I have to admit that I have generally overlooked these types of fungi in the past. 'Crusts' are not the most photogenic of fungi but under a hand lens their surfaces are transformed into canyons of remarkable intricacy and complexity.

It was not long before I came across mycelium growing on leaf litter and on broken and fallen dead branches.

Dead tree trunks and branches provide nourishment for 'crusts', 'bracket' and 'curtain' fungi. Below is a species I've had some difficulty identifying. The second photo is the same fungi but at a different stage in its development. It could be a number of fungi.

On a felled conifer trunk I came across a fungi I've not encountered on Kilvey before. Gloeophyllum sepiaruim/Conifer Mazegill.

   

The fruitbody is attached to the wood by a very short stalk and spreads out, sometimes creating a rosette look. It's maroon in colour and darker in the centre but as can be seen below becomes lighter as it extends outwards becoming  very pale at the edge.

Its surface can be slightly felty or hairy  to the touch and the common name refers to the pore structure underneath..

On Kilvey Hill there is one particular bracket that is very abundant; Trichaptum abietinum (=Hirschioporus abientinus) Purplepore Bracket. Its widespread and very common everywhere and very easy to spot due to the purple coloured pore surface, (which turns brown with age). It's fan shaped, up to 5cm across in rows or tiers and can completely cover tree trunks. It grows on fallen and decayed conifer wood.

                                         

Another species of fungi out in good numbers was Tremella mesenterica/Yellow Brain. The Tremella species are parasitic and they live off the mycelium of another fungi, Peniphora, (which is a crust fungi).

On my way down the hill towards Port Tennant I come across this unusual looking, jellylike fungi. I think it might belong to the Tremella family too but I've never seen anything like this before..

In Jersey Park there are two more bracket fungi to find before going home and both are very common. Below is Bjerkandera adusta/Smoky Bracket..

The pore side of this bracket has a distinct grey colour and when young the margin is white above and below. The fungi has a suede like feel and is leathery tough to the feel.

Below is a rather fine example in the variations of colour produced by Trametes versicolor/Turkeytail. This one was attached to an old wooden stump in the soil

GFG Foray: The Cliffs by Pilton Green

Today was the last GFG foray. This year has been a bumper year for mushrooms across Britain apparently. The good weather conditions, (good for fungi that is), that we've had over the last three years has probably had big hand in this result. I look forward to seeing what the records will show.

Talking of the weather, as a group we have been lucky with the weather, having great conditions on every foray date this year. I was concerned that the long warm spell we had would damage many mushrooms and this was borne out by what we found at Kenfig. Everything was parched.
But it will go down in my memory as the year it never rained on us and I'm grateful for that.

Finally....

It's good to have company when looking for mushrooms and I thank you all;  for turning up, giving your time to clamber though bushes, get stung by nettles, look at the ground, stare at the grass and occasionally lose our way. It's all good, and still been fun.
It's not often we find a toilet seat on the road walking back to the cars after getting a little bit lost..
To all you guys and gals. I thank you all.

 

We parked at Pilton Green then walked through some fields, crossing many stiles  to get to the cliffs. It was certainly the epitome of a bracing cliff top walk. From here it's not terribly far to find the cave that contained 'The red lady of Paviland'


Of all the mushrooms we found, Stropharia semiglobata was the most common. It likes cattle and horse dung and there was plenty of that around. There was lots of Lepista nuda/Blewits too (in perfect condition if you wanted to cook them).
There's lots of gorse here and lots of Tremella mesenterica/Yellow Brain living on it. More than I've ever seen before.

Below is Stropharia semiglobata. It likes dung.We also found Stropharia aeruginosa in reasonable amounts too.

 Stropharia aeruginosa

 Lepista nuda

 Below is a slime mould. We found quite a lot of this. It's Mucilago crustacea in what's called the plasmodium stage. It's strange to think it moves.

Below are a couple of lichens. I'll have to find what they are because I'm struck by the colours and patterns, both colour and organism design. They intrigue me as much as fungi.

Below is the google map link to Pilton Green
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=pilton+green&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Pilton+Green,+Rhossili,+Swansea&gl=uk&ei=3frrTP6WE6iAhAe4ptjMDA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA