A new location for Hazel Gloves discovered in Wales

Lichenologist Sandy and Brian Coppins were recently contracted to survey a number of hazelwood fragments in NW Wales, around Lleyn Peninsula and Porthmadog, by Plantlife Wales officer Dave Lamacraft.

The Hazel Gloves fungus (Hypocreopsis rhododendri) was first reported in Wales, in Carmarthenshire, by Sam Bosanquet in 2010. This was followed by another record from the same county in 2012 and another in December last year in Pembrokeshire.

In their intensive search, they were finally rewarded with the discovery of Hazel Gloves in the last of the six woods they surveyed (Pen-y-bedw). It was a fairly moribund specimen on a fallen branch that had been almost completely eaten by molluscs, but there was enough material for Brian to cut a section and confirm the identification microscopically. The record has now been added to the map and will be submitted to the national fungal databases.

Despite not finding Hazel Gloves elsewhere, Sandy noted that so many of the other woods were 'just right' for Hazel Gloves, with its close associate, the Glue Fungus (Hymenochaete corrugata) being found everywhere. Dave Lamacraft joked that he felt quite intimidated by the abundance of this sticky fungus – he felt if he stood still long enough with his hand against a hazel, he would be 'glued' himself!

If you find Hazel Gloves, we are still keen to hear about it so that we can continue to improve our understanding of it's ecology and distribution in Great Britain and Ireland.

The old specimen of hazel gloves found by Sandy and Brian Coppins in north Wales.

A fresher example of hazel gloves from Scotland - perhaps about to suffer the same fate as the north Wales specimen!