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Earthstar Trek
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Wednesday, 23 October 2013 19:34
I've been out to Ladys Winkins again today with my good friend Howard Matcham and his sidekick, Barney the dog. I saw lots of cool species and added at least four new fungi and one very rare moss. First up we saw loads of these Sessile Earthstars, the first earthstar I have seen other than the common Collared Earthstar.
Howard found these Foetid Parachutes in the area a few days ago and I was glad to refind them as this is quite a scarce species. It really does smell bad, like rotting cabbages.
These Cucumber Caps smelled a little more refreshing of, you've guessed it, cucumber. Another new species for me. A specialist of wood chip piles.
This Rooting Shank is a relatively common species that has passed me by until now.
By far the rarest thing we saw though was this moss that was actually discovered new to Britain by Howard and Barney this year! It's Ditrichum pallidum and is not even the books yet! I'm only the third person to see it in the UK.
I also saw lots of other interesting species that I rarely come across like Magpie Inkcaps, Lapidary Snails, Golden Scalycaps and Nut-tree Tussock larvae. Also, this is only the second time I have seen Dog Stinkhorn. There were at least 20 fruiting in one small area.
Always nice to see White Saddles too.
And of course none of this could have been possible without Howard and his owner Barney. A big thanks to them both for getting me back into fungi today!
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Its a joy to have you back posting again keep it up, could you tell me the name of the fungi book in the picture.