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| Species of the Month - January 2014 Velvet Shank Flammulina velutipes
This is one of the very few mushroom-shaped fungi that can tolerate frost, and it appears in the middle of winter when there are few other mushrooms about. The 23 records in our LNHG dataset comprise 1 found in October, 2 in November, 1 in December, 16 in January and 3 in February.
Velvet Shank grows on living or, more usually, dead wood of trees and shrubs. 18 of our records were found on Gorse, 2 on Broom and 3 on Willow (but see below for identity issues with ones on Willow). If you have a large patch of Gorse near you and search it in January, paying particular attention to dead stems and branches, you are likely to find this bright orange mushroom. (You may also find the equally bright Yellow Brain Fungus, but that does not have a stem and a cap)
The mushroom grows in small tufts; the ones above are on a dead gorse stump on the shore. The cap is slimy. The gills are a paler orange than the cap, and the stem is pale creamy yellow at the top, becoming more orange as you go down and finally black or very dark brown at the foot. This dark part of the stem is covered with soft hairs, hence the name Velvet Shank.
In 2010 a very similar species called Flammulina elastica, which grows on willow and poplar, was found in Britain. This species had only recently been split from F velutipes by European DNA researchers, and it is likely that some of the past British records of F velutipes were in fact F elastica. The only difference between the two species is the dimensions of their spores. When I found a Flammulina on willow at Tralee in Feb 2013, I was aware of this split so I checked its spores, and they perfectly matched those of F elastica. This may be the first Scottish record if accepted. So if anyone finds Velvet Shank on willow or poplar and fancies a bit of citizen science, please collect a fresh cap from it and take a spore print or get it to someone who can. Meanwhile any found on gorse or broom can be confidently recorded as F velutipes, on the current state of knowledge. Ones on any host other than those mentioned will be of great interest.
Here's another clump on gorse. Though they thrive in the cold they can look battered in the mild, wet and windy weather that is more common in our part of the world, but are usually easy to recognise even when past their best.
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Carl Farmer
12 Jan: F velutipes found near Oban
on fallen branch, apparently from either Oak or Horse Chestnut.
13 Jan: F elastica found on Willow at Ganavan
13 Jan: F velutipes found on Gorse at Ganavan
28 Jan: F velutipes found on Gorse during LNHG
field trip at North Shian
Dec 2013 - Frilly-fruited Jelly
Lichen
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