Sara Cadbury captivated the audience with her talk on New
Forest fungi. Sara, an expert mycologist and member of our own Naturalist
Society started with the identification of fungi including the difficulties
that this involves due to mycology being a rapidly advancing science, hence the
names in the identification books are often out of date. Identification is a
calculated guess without the use of a microscope. Identification is based on
habitat ( both woodland/grassland, also which tree /plant it is attached to ) ;
size; colour ( also difficult as some colours are water soluble); colour of
spores, smell and if it has a cap or gills. Sara showed us the cocoa coloured
spores of the large Ganoderma fungi
found in the forest.
Broadly fungi can be divided into two groups- Basidiomycetes,
which drop their spores, examples being Boletus fungi, and Ascomycetes, which
shoot their spores out, examples being cup fungus and green oak cup.
Sara had photographs of spores, showing the variation in size,
shape, ornamentation and spikes and the means of measuring these microscopic
spores. The microscope also revealed the structure, named a basidium, of the
Basidiomycetes, which have usually four arms at the apex, each of these arms
has a spore attached. These spores are immature, and for identification
purposes cannot be measured until unattached. In the Ascomycetes the spores are
in asci, and when ripe they shoot out of the top.
Next we looked at Ergot, which occurs mainly on cereal
crops, usually rye. These fungi used to cause death, as the fungi were
incorporated into flour and then onto bread. The poison within the Ergot caused
constriction of capillaries, leading to gangrene and death. The symptoms
involved itching of the extremities and hence the disease was named St Vitus
dance.
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| A spalted bowl |
Sara bought along many examples of spalted wood, which is
greatly favoured by wood turners, due to the black lines that are so decorative
in the finished bowls. These black lines are war zones where two fungi, of
either similar or different kinds are defending their territory. Between these
two lines there is often a further fungus growing. The Porcelain Fungus can
produce a yellow line in these circumstances.
Sara then spoke of a number of different and interesting
fungi to be seen in the forest. Stinkhorn has an unusual spore dispersal as the
smell it emits attracts beetles and flies, which the disperse the spores.
Usually spores are wind dispersed.
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| Devil's Fingers |
Forest specialities include Clathrus archeri, Devils Fingers, which occur on Setley Plain,
their spore dispersal is also by flies and beetles. Poronia punctate, Nail Fungus, occurs on manure from New Forest
ponies that have poor nutrition and diets high in roughage. Hericium erinaceus, Bearded Tooth, Hericium caralloides , Coral Tooth and Hericium cirrhatum, Tiered Tooth, are
all rare but do occur on beech trees in the forest.
Sara explained that the large diversity of fungi in the New
Forest is due to the variety of habitats, from the Headon beds south of the A31
to the sands and gravels in the north.
Sara was particularly interested in the numbers of fungi
with parasites themselves- showing us photographs of Peppery Boletus fungi
being parasitic to Fly Agaric. Earth balls and puff balls also have parasites.
We finished with photographs of Chicken in the Woods, Dyers Mazegill, Magpie Fungus,
wax caps and Wood Blewit.
Sara was warmly thanked by a full audience of members and
visitors. Visitors are very welcome at both the evening meetings and our walks
throughout the year. Details to be found on our website www.lymnats.org.uk