MY MUSHROOM YEAR 2023-24

Cortinarius rubellus, commonly known as the deadly webcap, is a species of fungus in the family Cortinariaceae, native to high-latitude temperate to subalpine forests of Eurasia and North America. Within the genus it belongs to a group known as the Orellani, all of which are highly toxic. Eating them results in kidney failure, which is often irreversible. (Wikipedia). 

 Commonly referred to as Plums and Custard or occasionally as the Strawberry Mushroom, Tricholomopsis rutilans is, nevertheless, a very bitter and inedible fungus. It is always a joy to come across these stately mushrooms, not least because of their habit of colonising buried decaying conifer roots and forming wonderfully photogenic groups. The bright yellow gills of this mushroom serve as a reminder that gill colour is not a good guide to spore colour; the spores of this species are white.(First Nature)

 In the generally difficult Cortinarius group of fungi Cortinarius flexipes is one of the few species that are reasonably easy to identify from macroscopic characters alone; however, you really must find several specimens at different stages in their development. Cap shape and colour are very variable features and they can change considerably as the fruitbody matures. What is particularly distinctive about this webcap is its odour: it smells like pelargoniums - those house plants that many people (wrongly) call geraniums.(First Nature)

The yellowfoot is a small mushroom, usually only a few inches tall. Its common names give away its key distinguishing feature: the stem (the mushroom’s “foot”) is bright yellow, its stem is hollow (like a tube), it’s funnel or trumpet-shaped, and it’s brightly colored (like a flame). Yellowfoot mushrooms only grow from the ground or on decomposing logs; they never grow up trees or on solid logs. They grow in dense or scattered groupings across the forest floor, especially boggy, wet areas filled with lots of moss. The yellowfoot chanterelle is mycorrhizal (forms relationships with specific trees), with two species preferring conifers and one growing in association with hardwoods. (Mushroom Appreciation)

 Although Amanita fulva, commonly referred to as the Tawny Grisette, is not poisonous it must be well cooked before it may safely be eaten. (Cooking destroys its toxins.) Amanitas are so stately that it seems a shame to collect them. I look for fallen specimens wherever possible when I want to photograph volvas or other features that cannot be seen easily on standing fruitbodies. Pale-capped Amanita fulva fungi can be confused with Deathcaps; occasionally a Tawny Grisette will have a very pale-brown, almost light-ochre cap. It tends to be most common in areas where the soil is acidic.(For this reason the Tawny Grisette is often the most abundant Amanita species in the conifer forests of western Wales, northwest England and Scotland.) This species is also found throughout most of mainland Europe. Amanita fulva is also reported from many parts of North America, where although it is quite common it might possibly be a different species from the European mushroom known as the Tawny Grisett

Gloioxanthomyces vitellinus is a species of agaric (gilled mushroom) in the family Hygrophoraceae. It has been given the recommended English name of Glistening Waxcap. The species has a European distribution, occurring mainly in agriculturally unimproved grassland. Glistening waxcap is typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. As a result, the species is of global conservation concern and is listed as "endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. (Wikepedia)

Phaeolus schweinitzii, commonly known as velvet-top fungus, dyer's polypore, dyer's mazegill, or pine dye polypore, is a fungal plant pathogen that causes butt rot on conifers such as Douglas-fir, spruce, fir, hemlock, pine, and larch. P. schweinitzii is a polypore, although unlike bracket fungi the fruiting body may appear terrestrial when growing from the roots or base of the host tree. The fruiting bodies, appearing in late summer or fall, commonly incorporate blades of grass, twigs, or fallen pine needles as they grow. They are tannish with darker brown centres, with orange to pale margins on young specimens. They may grow beyond 25 cm in diameter. As the fruiting bodies age, the pore surface turns from yellow to greenish yellow, the top becomes darker, and the yellow-brown flesh becomes harder and more wood-like. The pores bruise brown. The spores are white, elliptical, smooth, and inamyloid. (Wikipedia)

  Hypholoma fasciculare, commonly known as the Sulphur tuft or clustered woodlover, is a common woodland mushroom, often in evidence when hardly any other mushrooms are to be found. This saprotrophic small gill fungus grows prolifically in large clumps on stumps, dead roots or rotting trunks of broadleaved trees. The "sulphur tuft" is bitter and poisonous; consuming it can cause vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions. The principal toxin is a steroid known as fasciculol E. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin fascicularis 'in bundles' or 'clustered', referring to its habit of growing in clumps. (Wikipedia)

  Hypomyces is a genus of parasitic ascomycete fungi found in Europe, North America, Australia, and parts of China. The genus contains 53 species. Better known species include the lobster mushroom - Hypomyces lactifluorum and the bolete eater - Hypomyces chrysospermus. (Wikipedia)