September 11th 2010 ROWARDENNAN - Loch Lomond

Post date: Feb 13, 2011 6:05:15 PM

You can more or less tell that you're in for a half-decent day when you have Auriscalpium vulgare, Lyophyllum connatum and Russula adusta in the bag almost before you've gotten out of the car. So it was to prove with our foray to Rowardennan, where the ancient oakwoods flexed their mycological muscle in spite of the recent hot, dry spell. We had predicted that, although not previously recorded here, Lactarius volemus would show up if this wood was anything like other oakwoods in the vicinity; it took about twenty minutes to tick that particular box! Variety of species was provided by the presence of areas of birch and a scattering of "granny" pines; the former produced a fine display of Leccinum species and gave Graeme Walker a "Eureka" moment under the microscope in the shape of Lactarius pterosporus, or more accurately in the shape of its remarkable winged spores! We also found Clitocybe phyllophila, which is known from less than a dozen sites in Scotland although apparently common in England. This would appear to be down to under-recording as we would find it again at Daldowie Woods within a few weeks.

The pine had its moments as well. In addition to the usual suspects among the genera Suillus and Russula it also gave us only the second ever Scottish record for Hygrophoropsis macrospora (formerly referred to as H. pallida). Exciting stuff - and Graeme was confident that it had keyed out successfully when he later examined it under the microscope! At Rowardennan, however, the oaks had the last word. Graeme took us to a location where he had previously observed a species of Phellodon, and there it was again... but this time it had a wee toothed companion that was equally interesting! Specimens were collected to send to Liz Holden, whose experience of stipitate tooth fungi is considerable, for formal identification. It would turn out that we had examples of Phellodon confluens and its frequent partner Hydnellum concrescens. It is amazing how regularly these two are showing up in tandem as we glean more information about them. The morning session was concluded with lunch at the local inn, but not before we had gathered up some omelette-fuel from the abundant hedgehogs and chanterelles! Jenny and Lynne had spent the morning studiously tracking all that Graeme and I were identifying using their field guides, but sadly Jenny had to leave us at this point. More's the pity as Lynne was beginning to determine some of her own finds with confidence before we called stumps for the day.

The afternoon session at Sallochy was not quite so rewarding as the woods really were quite unrelentingly dry. Lynne came up with a beautiful specimen of Amanita citrina var. alba, before we again encountered Lactarius volemus, this time with its frequent confederate Russula risigallina. The best story of the afternoon, however, came from a moment of apparent hubris by Graeme. There was something about a little cluster of earthballs I had just found that made me say aloud, "Keep your eyes open for Parasitic boletes on the Scleroderma". Perhaps I was reminded of a similar location at Loch Awe where I had made my only ever collection of Pseudoboletus parasiticus in the past. I heard Graeme say, "that shouldn't be difficult, they're common on Lomondside...". I remember thinking, "Aye, right...". I knew there were only four FRDBI records for Scotland, and that if two of them were indeed from the Loch it still hardly constituted "common". Graeme had worked his way a few metres closer to the lochside and within seconds he spoke again, "here they are"! I thought it was a wind-up until I saw him pulling out the tripod for his camera! And there they were indeed! Not just one or two "infected" Sclerodermas but several. Graeme explained that the shingle of the Lochside was a true natural habitat for Scleroderma citrinum and that it was here that its relationship with P. parasiticus would obtain rather in "artificial" environments such as railway sidings. Apparently Loch Lomond's islands and similar habitats elsewhere in the country are copiously endowed with examples of the Scleroderma/Pseudoboletus pairing (which begs the question: where are all the records on which this knowledge is based?). Never mind - this information is incredibly valuable and I for one will never again visit a lochside in Autumn without checking for these two fungi. As we approached the car-park towards the end of the day it was somehow appropriate that the last find of the foray should fall to Graeme, and be an earthball to boot, this one the less frequently seen Scleroderma areolatum.

By Dick Peebles, 2010