18 January 2014

LNHG field trip, Port Appin

As so often on our walks, the forecast was wet but the day was dry.  Not a lot to see at this time of year but with 9 pairs of eyes present I knew we would make some good finds, as well as having an enjoyable and scenic walk.

Not a yard into the woods and someone's already stopped to look at lichens.  Photo by Sallie.
 

The lichen Bunodophoron melanocarpum, or Black-eyed Susan, growing on birch, found and photographed by Jan.  The black spore-masses are on the underside of the branch tips.
 

A related but much commoner lichen, Sphaerophorus globosus, also found and photographed by Jan.  This has round, often brownish, branches rather than the flatter ones of Bunodophoron.  The black spores are in spherical capsules at the branch ends.  In the photo these have not yet opened.
 

Hypotrachyna laevigata is extremely common on birch but its fruits are not.  There were plenty on this specimen, however, including some monster ones.
 

A mystery lichen found by Duri on a Birch trunk.  It's completely powdery, like Lepraria, but has large black apothecia.  I did wonder about Lecidella elaeochroma f. soralifera, but I can’t make it that as it won’t turn orange with bleach and its spores aren’t quite the right shape.  One day I'll know what it is.  On the right is the pink encrusting fungus Phlebia rufa on a Sycamore log, spotted by Jan.
 

Jan's photo of the pale moss Plagiothecium undulatum, which stood out wherever we went in the wood.
 

This pink jelly blob is a fearsome predator.  Spotted by Duri, it's called Pink Brain Fungus (Tremella encephala), and has enveloped a fruitbody of its favourite food, Bleeding Conifer Crust (Stereum sanguinolentum), which was innocently decomposing a fallen Larch twig.  So two records for the price of one there.  The predator was a first for VC98 but the prey was not.

On the right is an even more remarkable find.  Rob pointed out a Spruce tree covered in galled buds, each of which had these tiny cinder fungi growing on them.  I had no idea that any fungus of this type was a gall-causer, but we learn something new on each field trip.  It's called Cucurbitaria piceae.  There are only 7 previous British records for this fungus, none since 1974 and only one of them in Scotland.
 

It was a surprise to find many of the larch trees at the tip of the headland wrapped in the wiry threads of Bryoria fuscescens, which normally tends to stay away from the west coast.  The blue stuff on the extreme right is an Usnea.
 

Sallie's photo of the view from our lunch spot.

List of fungi recorded on the walk
 

Latin	English	Host
Cucurbitaria piceae		Spruce (buds)
Exidia thuretiana	White Brain Fungus	Sycamore (cut surface of stump)
Phacidium multivalve		Holly (fallen leaves)
Phlebia rufa		Sycamore (cut end of log)
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore	Birch
Rhopographus filicinus		Bracken
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball	Larch (on soil at base)
Stereum rugosum	Bleeding Broadleaf Crust	Birch
Stereum sanguinolentum	Bleeding Conifer Crust	Larch
Trametes versicolor	Turkey Tails	Sycamore (log)
Tremella encephala	Pink Brain Fungus	Stereum sanguinolentum
Tremella foliacea	Leafy Brain Fungus	Pine
Trochila ilicina	Holly Speckle	Holly (fallen leaves)

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All photos and other content copyright © Carl Farmer except where stated.  Some photos on this page are © Jan Hamilton or Sallie Jack.