Totnes Fungi

[gary]

Whoops . Now i have a spore print I'm not so sure.
This doesn't look that rusty brown -Cortinarius spp. but it's not pink -Lepista.
More investigation needed.

[gary]

After more investigation and consultation .
It's Inocybe lilacina (used to be geophylla ss lilacina)
and it's poisonous !!!
also like other Inocybe species it smells of human sperm.(described as spermatic)
Who knew???
The lesson learned is- Be careful and make sure you know what you're talking about before you put a message on the forum.

[gary]

Walking up Fishchowter Lane and saw this Dryad's saddle growing on a stump just inside the gate of Bowden Springs Farm (a new little smallholding growing veg and flowers (https://www.instagram.com/bowden_springs_farm_totnes/). Now called Cerioporus squamosus rather than Polyporus.
I've never seen a Dryad, even in Totnes but it's other common name is Pheasant's back and I've seen one or two of those.

[gary]

I went a bit further afield today (to deliver my Totnes Allotment Association seed order in Follaton).
Had a look round Follaton Cemetery - lots of mossy grass and waxcaps plus some others .
A rather ragged ballerina (calyptriformis) ,4 different yellow ones ,ceracea,insipida,chlorophana and glutinipes (orangey yellow with slimy stipe), also virginea,pratensis,coccinea
Also a yellow clav (lousy photo),some cordyceps militaris, Blewits Lepista nuda (definitely blewits this time!), mycena pura a galerina sp.? and 2 young agaricus sp. and a funnel. Photos not brilliant I'm afraid.
A site that needs further investigation.

[gary]

I went back to Follaton cemetery yesterday but it's getting a bit late now and some grass looked freshly mown.
I saw a couple of big agaricus probably arvensis but past their best so no photo.
Also a little group of Cuphophyllus pratensis (used to be Hygrocybe) ,the Meadow Waxcap.

[gary]

Last year's Poinsettia starting to turn red and up popped a Xmas mushroom!!

[gary]

Up Fishcowter lane again

Whitish bracket that I originally thought was a mazegill.
Turned out to be Trametes gibbosa ,the lumpy bracket on a very old ivy covered stump.
(gibbosa is humped or rounded)
Distinguished from other Trametes by its affinity to algae making it appear greenish.

Also on a bit of elder a Jelly ear (also called Wood ear , used to be called Judas Ear and in a more anti-semitic time Jew's ear)
Still called Auricularia auricula-judae in Latin. Supposedly from Judas hanging himself on an elder tree (Sambucus) which given their nature seems unlikely
The other Judas tree Cercis siliquastrum has pink flowers in the spring that don't look much like ears. Witches were said to be able to turn themselves into elder trees so perhaps they've always been considered a bit dodgy.

[gary]

I've been doing a bit of gardening for a relative
I noticed this rake that had been left outside
Auricularia ,Jelly Ear again.
Not on Elder probably Ash .
I blame the witches!

[gary]

Dryad's saddle (Polyporus squamosus) appears on old stump at the top of Fishchowter Lane where it meets Kingsbridge Road.
April 8th seems a bit early (or late) but the fungi don't always read the book.

[gary]

Spotted some smut up Fishchowter Lane!
Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae
Red Campion Smut,

Lots of Red Campion in flower but only one lot with Anther smut.
From Maudlin Road ,up past the stone bridge and on the left between the big oak tree and some Holly.

Pictures aren't brilliant.

More on plant pathogens -Download here https://www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/links/index.shtml