Swinsty Reservoir Fungal Foray

Sunday 8th October 2023 

Leader: Andy Woodall

This was a joint meeting with the Wharfedale Naturalists’ Society, resulting in a large turn out of 35, of which 17 were members of BBG. Fortunately, Andy had assistance from two other knowledgable fungi enthusiasts, Ian Forward and university student, Jonathan Whiteley, who were both a great help in identifying fungi and showing them to the group.

We found 90 different species of fungi, according to the list that Andy produced following the trip, as well as 2 species of slime mould. After looking at a few species on the edges of Swinsty Moor car park, we set off on a circular walk through the mixed woodland. We found such an abundance of fungi that we didn’t make it to the lunch spot that Andy had originally planned, so instead, we had our lunch sitting on some fallen logs in the woodland. The return leg back from Swinsty Reservoir was a generally quicker affair, to make it back to the cars for about 4pm, but we did make a stop to look at a well established patch of Small Teasel (Dipsacus pilosus), mostly gone to seed. Here are a few of our finds:

Bay Bolete (Boletus badius). Boletes, instead of having gills beneath the cap, have tubes ending in pores, so that the underside of the cap looks sponge-like. Bay Bolete has pale cream to yellow pores which bruise blue.

Suede Bolete (Boletus subtomentosus). The upper surface of the cap looks and feels like suede.

Scarletina Bolete (Boletus luridiformis var. luridiformis). When the mushroom is cut in half, the flesh instantly turns from yellow to blue. Andy experimented by putting some KOH (Potassium hydroxide) on the blue flesh - it turned back to yellow (neither Andy or Jonathan knew this would happen!). Andy said the colour change is thought to be due to oxidation but after doing the KOH experiment, he said the pH may be a factor.

Bleeding Bonnet (Mycena sanguinolenta). Broken stems exudes a blood-red latex (much to Paula’s horror!). Caps up to 2cm across. Growing on a fallen conifer log.

Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus). When young, the cap is tawny brown, with mica-like scales that glisten in the sun. As with many of the inkcaps, the cap and gills liquefy (deliquesce) to release the spores.

Dyer’s Mazegill  (Phaeolus schweinitzii). The specimen had grown around a grass stem - a phenomenon called haptomorphism, where a fungus grows around an object. The common name derives from its use in creating a yellow, orange or brown dye for fabric.

Powderpuff Bracket (Postia ptychogaster). This specimen was white but we later saw another example which was the more typical creamy-brown colour. These fluffy-looking cushions grow on dead wood.

Common Puffball  (Lycoperdon perlatum). When mature, spores are released in a ‘puff’ from the apical pore in the centre of the puffball. Most ordinary rain drops are not large enough to cause the spores to be released, but the bigger impact of large drops of water from the drip line of a tree are, which is often where you find these fruiting bodies.

Dusky Puffball (Lycoperdon nigrescens). Similar to Common Puffball, but the spines that cover the surface are darker and persist into maturity.

Scaly Earthball (Scleroderma verrucosum). Mature earthballs release their spores by the fruiting body splitting open. Earthballs have a tough skin and, when immature specimens are cut in half, they are usually black or purple inside. Scaly Earthball has a long stem.

A few of the mushrooms we encountered had distinctive smells. Poisonpie (Hebeloma crustuliniforme) smelt like a Snickers bar, Lilac Bonnet (Mycena pura) smelt of radish, Coconut Milkcap (Lactarius glyciosmus) smelt of coconut, Sulphur Knight (Tricholoma sulphureum) smelt of sulphur and The Miller (Clitopilus prunulus) smelt of old dough. A mature specimen of Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) really was foul smelling!

The slime mould Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) was encountered a couple of times, a hand lens revealing beautiful tiny white fingers, looking rather like ice-crystals from a distance.

Thanks were given to our leaders for such an enjoyable day exploring the woods.

Text by Susan

Photographs by Susan and Tom

Ian Brand has also written about this fungal foray for the Wharfedale Naturalists' Society in a 'Nature Notes' article.

Nature Notes - Fungal Foray by Ian Brand