frequently been confused with _Ganoderma europaeum_. It is common
growing on birch in Scotland, but is less frequent south of Perth, and
then grows probably more frequently on beech which is similar to the
pattern found on the continent of Europe. However, it has grown in
former periods in England on birch, for it was found commonly amongst
birch timbers in an excavation of an early Mesolithic lake side
village near Scarborough, Yorkshire.
_Illustrations_: NB 125³; WD 160².
Some perennial polypores. Plate 48.
~Fomes fomentarius~ (Fries) Kickx
Tinder fungus
Cap: 90-300 mm, hoof-shaped, thick, broadly attached to the substrate,
zoned with yellow-brown and shades of grey; its margin is blunt and
fawn or pale brownish.
Tubes: layered, cinnamon-brown with pale cinnamon pores with a whitish
bloom.
Flesh: cinnamon-brown or buff and woolly.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: elongate, ellipsoid, very long, hyaline under the microscope,
15-18 × 5-6 µm, and not ornamented. The flesh contains both thick- and
thin-walled hyphae. It grows on birch and less frequently on beech.
The flesh has been used in dentistry, in manufacturing fancy articles,
such as mats, and was the basis of the tinder used in flint-boxes.
_Illustrations_: LH 65; NB 117¹; WD 100¹.
~Phellinus igniarius~ (Fries) Quélet ‘Willow Fomes’, grows on willows
and causes their heart-rot. It is a rust-brown, woody fungus with a
hard crust and brown tubes and flesh. The spore-print is white and
composed of small, spherical, hyaline spores, 5-6 µm in diameter. The
flesh contains thin- and thick-walled hyphae.
_Illustrations_: LH 63; WD 99³.
[Illustration: Plate 47. Woody Fungi: Spores brown and borne within
tubes--fruit-body perennial]
~Oxyporus populinus~ (Fries) Donk, grows on various sorts of
broad-leaved trees, particularly poplars and often becomes covered in
mosses and algae. It has a pale buff or cream-coloured cap, white
flesh, pores, tubes and spores.
_Illustrations_: LH 67.
~Cryptoderma pini~ (Fries) Imaz, grows on conifers often several feet
above the ground. It has a woody, deeply cracked upper surface, dark
red-brown flesh, tubes and pores. Its spores are small, broadly
ellipsoid and brown.
~Heterobasidion annosum~ (Fries) Brefeld
Root fomes
Variable, sometimes possessing a cap, sometimes resupinate except for
the upturned margin, flattened or shell-shaped, red-brown to blackish
at the centre but pale at the margin, which when seen from below is
always white. The tubes are in layers and like the pores, flesh and
spore-print are white. The spores are broadly ellipsoid, small,
smooth, hyaline and 4-5 × 4 µm. The flesh is fairly tough as it
contains both generative hyphae and skeletal hyphae. It is frequent on
the roots and lower parts of stems of many trees and shrubs causing a
rapid heart-rot of conifers and extensive damage to young trees.
_Illustrations_: LH 67; NB 111¹; WD 98¹.
The spores of all the perennial polypores described above do not blue
when placed in solutions containing iodine.
[Illustration: Plate 48. Woody fungi: Spores borne within
tubes--perennial polypores]
~Schizophyllum commune~ Fries
Split-gill fungus
_Cap_: 10-25 mm. _Stem_: width 2-4 mm; length 2-4 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: greyish fawn becoming whitish when dry, fan or kidney-shaped,
often lobed and covered in close-set hairs and with incurved margin.
Stem: absent or the cap simply narrows into a stem-like bump.
Gills: replaced by a series of grey-brown plates which when dry appear
as if to split longitudinally and their edges roll back.
Flesh: brownish but drying whitish.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium sized, oblong, hyaline under the microscope, not
blueing in solutions containing iodine and 6-7 × 2-5 µm in size.
Facial and marginal cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Grows on fallen branches, trunks, dead
wood, etc.
_General Information_: Easily recognised by the ‘gills’ radiating from
a point and becoming ‘split’ when dry. Specimens of _Schizophyllum_
sealed by A. H. R. Buller in a tube in 1911 have been shown on
remoistening to unroll their gills and shed variable spores, after 52½
years--probably a world record! The split-gill is a rather unique
British fungus which appears to be much more closely related to the
polypores than to the agarics--although it has for a long time been
associated with the Oyster mushroom (p. 74). In fact, the splitting
gills are two adjacent shallow dishes with spores produced on their
inner surfaces. The cups separate on drying and therefore only
superficially resemble gills splitting down the centre.
Another fungus which can also be associated with the idea of cups is
_Fistulina hepatica_ Fries ‘the Beef-steak fungus’. This fungus is a
polypore in the widest sense. It may grow up to 250 mm wide and is
reddish-brown or liver-coloured with reddish tubes and pale
flesh-coloured pores; the tubes although free are aggregated together
and can be easily separated individually with the fingers. This fungus
is edible although very strong in taste, it produces a serious decay
of oaks.
_Illustrations_: _S. commune_--LH 105; NB 125⁶; WD 69³. _F.
hepatica_--F 43³ (lower figure); Hvass 278; LH 75; NB 129²; WD 101⁴.
[Illustration: Plate 49. Woody fungi: Spores white and borne on
split-‘gills’]
(b) Destroyers of timber in buildings
~Serpula lacrymans~ (Fries) Karsten
Dry-rot fungus
_Description_:
Fruit-body: usually widely spreading, but sometimes forming a distinct
bracket with the upper surface silvery or smokey grey, flushed with
lilac or rose or yellowish.
Stem: absent and replaced by a series of dirty white or greyish
mycelial threads or strands which can be traced up to 100 mm over the
substrate.
Flesh: thin, dirty yellowish and composed of only one type of hypha.
Spores: borne in shallow pores which are part of a complicated network
of rust-brown folds and ridges.
Spore-print: rust-brown.
Spores: medium sized, golden yellow, thick-walled and broadly
ellipsoid, and 8-10 × 5-6 µm in size.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: On worked wood in buildings and less
commonly in timber-yards. It can be found throughout the year.
_General Information_: This fungus forms fan-like structures and
strands of mycelium which pass along beams and joists and through
plaster. Where there is a bad case of dry-rot, the room or building
will have an unpleasant musty smell and when actually growing the
fungus exudes droplets of water on the mycelium and fruit-body, i.e.
weeping, hence the name ‘lacrymans’--weepy. It is a very important and
destructive agent causing damage to floors and skirting boards, to
joists and beams. It is a frequent pest of old houses and therefore of
many of our cities. This fungus does not appear to have been found in
the wild in Europe, but there is a record from the Himalayas. There
are, however, very closely related species found on soil or
wood-detritus. The Dry-rot fungus darkens the wood and produces a rot
which makes the wood crack into small cubes or rectangular blocks.
This fungus was formerly placed in _Merulius_, but this genus should
be retained for hyaline-spored fungi, e.g. _M. tremellosus_ Fries, a
species which grows even in winter on stumps of various trees in our
woods.
_Illustrations_: LH 53; WD 103³.
[Illustration: Plate 50. Dry-rot fungi--leathery and tough spores borne
in shallow irregular pores]
~Coniophora puteana~ (Fries) Karsten
Cellar or Wet-rot fungus
_Description_:
Fruit-body: variable in size, resupinate, composed of one type of
hypha only and with a sterile whitish cream or yellow margin.
Spore-bearing tissue: an irregularly wrinkled or humpy, yellowish
surface which then becomes olive-green or bronze-colour.
Spore-print: olivaceous brown.
Spores: olive-brown under the microscope, smooth, ellipsoid,
thick-walled and 12-14 × 8-9 µm in size.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: This fungus causes wet-rot in houses, but
may also be found on stumps and fallen trunks in woodland.
_General Information_: The fungus causes a discolouration of worked
timber and induces longitudinal cracking with only a few lateral
hair-like cracks unlike timber attacked by the dry-rot fungus (see p.
154).
_Illustrations_: WD 103⁵.
~Fibuloporia vaillantii~ (Fries) Bondarsev & Singer
_Description_:
Fruit-body: a resupinate layer of pores with cream-coloured or white
sterile radiating margin.
Spore-bearing tissue: distributed within a series of small often
shallow, white or ivory tubes.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: smooth, hyaline under the microscope, oblong 5-7 × 3-4 µm.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: The dry-rot of houses, particularly in
roof-systems.
_General Information_: _Fibuloporia vaillantii_ is recognised by the
white, resupinate pore-surface and fairly tough nature due to the
presence of strengthening hyphae. Just as the genus _Polyporus_ was
found to be composed of several quite different elements (see pp.
140-44) and has since been split up into a number of different genera,
the genus _Poria_ has also been fragmented; one of the constituent
genera is _Fibuloporia_. _Amyloporia xantha_ (Fries) Bondarsev &
Singer differs in having amyloid tissue and cystidia encrusted with
crystals. The flesh contains both simple hyphae and thickened
structural hyphae. It is yet another member of the large old unwieldy
genus _Poria_ and causes decay of worked wood, particularly the
timbers of benching and staging in greenhouses. _A. xantha_ has a
sulphur-yellow pore-surface and is rather cheesy when handled.
[Illustration: Plate 51. Wet and Dry-rot fungi--leathery and tough and
spores borne within shallow pores or on an uneven surface]
(c) Colonisers of cones
~Auriscalpium vulgare~ S. F. Gray
Ear-pick fungus
_Cap_: 8-12 mm. _Stem_: width 4-6 mm; length 40-75 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: kidney-shaped or semicircular, thin, date- or umber-brown, hairy,
but paler towards the margin.
Stem: erect, slender, hairy, particularly at the base, and attached at
the side of the cap (excentric).
Gills: replaced by flesh-coloured, then greyish brown spines.
Flesh: brown.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: small, hyaline, minutely spiny, spherical, 4-5 µm in diameter,
and becoming blue-grey in solutions containing iodine.
Cystidia: flask-shaped with oily contents.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: This fungus is always found on fallen
pine-cones and occurs from early summer to autumn.
_General Information_: The ear-pick fungus is easily recognised by the
slender, elegant habit, excentrically placed cap, substrate preference
and dark colours. It cannot be confused with any other fungus.
Recently it has been shown that the ‘agaric’ _Lentinellus cochleatus_
(Fries) Karsten (p. 76) is more closely related to _Auriscalpium_ than
this fungus is to other spine-bearing forms and _Lentinellus_ is to
the other agarics. Both fungi possess thick-walled cells in the flesh
and oil-containing hyphae; they are placed in the family
_Auriscalpiaceae_.
Another laterally stemmed Hedgehog fungus differs in possessing
distinctly gelatinised teeth and preference for conifer wood and not
cones. Examination of the basidia of this fungus shows that it is more
closely related to the jelly-fungi, _Exidia_ and _Tremella_ (p. 184)
than to Hedgehog fungi such as _Auriscalpium_ or _Hyndum repandum_
Fries (p. 160). This false nature is reflected in the name of the
genus to which it belongs, _Pseudohydnum_, and the very gelatinous
texture in the specific name ‘_gelatinosum_’: the fungus is
_Pseudohydnum gelatinosum_, or as it used to be called _Tremellodon
gelatinosum_.
_Illustrations_: Auriscalpium vulgare--WD 103⁶. Pseudohydnum
gelatinosum--WD 105⁹.
[Illustration: Plate 52. Tough or leathery fungi: Spores white and borne
on spines--Ear pick fungus]
(d) Terrestrial forms
~Hydnum repandum~ Fries
Wood-hedgehog
_Cap_: 50-75 mm width. _Stem_: width 10-17 mm; length 45-65 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: rather thick, fleshy, pinkish buff or tan, paler at its incurved
and often lobed margin.
Stem: short, stout and powdered with white roughenings and often
attached to the cap to one side of the centre.
Gills: replaced by awl-shaped, pinkish buff spines which are unequal
in length and run down the top of the stem.
Flesh: white, firm and with a pleasant smell.
Spore-print: whitish.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, smooth, broadly
ellipsoid, 7 × 6-7 µm, and not becoming bluish grey in solutions
containing iodine.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: The ‘wood-hedgehog’ grows on the ground in
mixed woods and is easily recognised by its colour and fleshy texture.
_General Information_: The closely related, smaller, red-brown species
_H. rufescens_ Persoon grows with conifers. _Hydnum_ was formerly a
genus which contained several entities, now not considered closely
related. Thus the following genera have been delimited in addition to
those related to _Hydnum repandum_ and _H. rufescens_, and
_Auriscalpium_ described on p. 158.
_Sarcodon_: Fruit-body fleshy: spores brown and ornamented with
irregular bumps, e.g. _S. imbricatum_ (Fries) Karsten.
_Phellodon_: Fruit-body tough and fibrous: spores white and ornamented
with small spines, e.g. _P. niger_ (Fries) Karsten.
_Hydnellum_: Fruit-body tough and fibrous: spores brown and ornamented
with irregular bumps and bosses, e.g. _H. scrobiculatum_ (Secretan)
Karsten.
_Bankera_: Fruit-body fleshy: spores white and ornamented with small
spines, e.g. _B. fuliginoalbum_ (Fries) Pouzar.
_Illustrations_: Hvass 280; LH 61; NB 153³; WD 53⁴; Z 61.
[Illustration: Plate 53. Tough or leathery fungi: Spores whitish and
borne on spines]
(ii) Chanterelles and relatives
~Cantharellus cibarius~ Fries
Chanterelle
_Cap_: 30-100 mm. _Stem_: width 15-25 mm; length 30-70 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: convex then flattened, irregularly wavy, more or less top-shaped,
depressed and smooth or slightly roughened at centre, egg-yellow or
lemon-chrome with flush of orange and with the margin incurved at
first.
Stem: short, stout, tapered downwards, fleshy and similarly coloured
to the cap.
Gills: replaced by irregularly branched yellow folds which may form a
network near the margin and at the apex of the stem over which the
folds run down irregularly (decurrent).
Flesh: with pleasant, fruity smell, yellow but paler on drying.
Spore-print: pale cream-colour.
Spores: medium sized, ellipsoid, thin-walled, smooth, 8-10 × 5-6 µm in
size and not becoming bluish grey in solutions containing iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Basidia: 2-8 spored.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Very common in troops in deciduous woods
especially those with beech and oak.
_General Information_: Easily recognised by its folds and absence of
true gills beneath the cap and the overall yellow colour. This fungus
is the edible chanterelle of the continental market, where it is
considered of very high quality; it can be purchased in this country
in tins. _C. friesii_ Quélet is of a bright apricot colour with
lilaceous or rose-coloured flesh. The ‘false chanterelle’
_Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca_ (Fries) Maire already discussed (see p.
106) has true gills and is reddish orange in colour.
_Illustrations_: Hvass 182; LH 59; NB 123²; WD 83¹.
[Illustration: Plate 54. Fleshy but firm fungi: Spores pale-coloured and
borne on irregular folds (False gills)]
~Craterellus cornucopioides~ (Fries) Persoon
Horn of plenty
_Cap_: 22-80 mm. _Stem_: width 15-25 mm; length 25-80 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: funnel-shaped, membranous to leathery, but limp, dark brown or
almost black in wet weather, but on drying becoming dull brown or
sepia, slightly scaly and with irregularly wavy margin.
Stem: short, blackish and hollow.
Gills: absent, replaced by a smooth to irregularly wrinkled, ash-grey
surface.
Flesh: sepia but drying out greyish ochre.
Spore-print: cream-colour.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, ellipsoid, smooth,
10-11 × 6-7 µm in size and not blueing in solutions containing iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Basidia: usually 2-spored.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Often in very large troops in woods,
especially under beech.
_General Information_: This fungus is recognised by the peculiar shape
and dull colours which conceal it so well amongst the dead leaves and
woodland debris; in the shade of the tree-canopy it is easily
overlooked. _Craterellus sinuosus_ (Fries) Fries is a much smaller
species with dirty ochraceous fertile surface and brownish grey cap
and stem.
‘Cornucopioides’ means like (oides) a horn of plenty, a familiar
object in mediaeval paintings as part of heathen festivities full and
overflowing either with fruit or wine, or both!
_Illustrations_: Hvass 186; LH 59; NB 123¹; WD 83⁴.
[Illustration: Plate 55. Fleshy but leathery fungi: Spores pale-coloured
and borne on irregular wrinkles]
(iii) Fairy-club fungi
~Clavulina rugosa~ (Fries) Schroeter
Wrinkled club
_Cap_: absent. _Fruit-body_: length 50-100 mm; width 7-13 mm.
_Description_:
Fruit-body: club-shaped, simple with blunt apex or irregular blunt
branches, white or dirty cream colour, often thickened upwards and
marked with longitudinal wrinkles or grooves and the whole surface of
the club bearing spores.
Stem: absent or extremely short.
Flesh: white.
Spore-print: white.
Spore: medium sized, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, hyaline under
the microscope and not turning bluish grey in iodine solutions, 9-10 ×
7-8 µm in size.
Cystidia: absent.
Basidia: 2-spored.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Frequent on the ground in woods,
especially in the shade of beech trees or in conifer plantations.
_General Information_: Two very closely related species are to be
found in similar localities and are equally as common; they are _C.
cristata_ (Fries) Schroeter with strongly branched white fruit-body,
each branch ending in pinkish or lavender-white, divided, sharply
pointed branchlets and _C. cinerea_ (Fries) Schroeter with irregular
greyish or dark grey branches with a flush of violaceous.
These three species are very closely related; in fact so many
intermediates between the extreme morphological forms are known that
some authorities have considered them simply forms of a single
species. All these species lack cystidia.
rugosa--wrinkled, referring to the spore-bearing surface.
cristata--crested, referring to the branchlets.
cinerea--ash-grey, referring to the colour.
All these species are often found blackened by the growth of the
microscopic fungus, _Helminthosphaeria clavariae_ (Tulasne) Fuckel.
_Illustrations_: _C. rugosa_--LH 55; WD 104⁵. _C. cristata_--LH 55; NB
153⁵; WD 104². _C. cinerea_--WD 104¹.
[Illustration: Plate 56. Fleshy but firm fungi: Spores pale-coloured and
borne on club-shaped fruit-bodies]
~Clavaria vermicularis~ Fries
White spindles
_Cap_: absent. _Fruit-body_: width 6-10 mm; length 50-85 mm.
_Description_: Plate 56.
Simple or very rarely branched, but not forked below the soil-level,
densely tufted, spindle-shaped, pure white with sharp, often slightly
brownish, tips, when old it is wavy, often twisted, compressed and
fragile.
Stem: absent.
Flesh: whitish.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: small, pip-shaped, smooth, hyaline under the microscope, 4-5 ×
3 µm in size, and not becoming bluish grey in iodine solutions.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Common in autumn amongst grass in fields,
less frequent in woods.
_General Information_: _Clavulinopsis fusiformis_ (Fries) Corner,
‘Golden spindles’ is similar to _C. vermicularis_, but forms dense
tufts of canary-yellow, very fragile clubs joined in 2’s or 3’s below
the soil level; the spores are also slightly different, being almost
globose, hyaline under the microscope and 5-7 µm in diameter.
_Clavaria fumosa_ Fries is similar to _C. vermicularis_ and forms
tufts of very fragile mouse-grey clubs with brownish tips; it produces
elongate ellipsoid spores measuring 6-8 × 3-4 µm which are hyaline
under the microscope. _C. vermicularis_ and _C. fumosa_ differ from
_Clavulinopsis_ in hyphal construction, but the differences are rather
difficult to demonstrate to the beginner. _Clavulinopsis helvola_
favours similar habits to _C. fusiformis_ and although yellow in
colour differs in the more orange-yellow colouration, but more
particularly in the spores being rounded, 5-6 µm in diameter with
large angular spines.
The earth-tongues, i.e. members of the family _Geoglossaceae_ which
are also found in pastures belong to an unrelated group of fungi, the
Ascomycetes. If the clubs are crushed and examined under the
microscope rows of sacs (asci) containing long thread-like ascospores
are found--no basidia are to be seen.
_Illustrations_: _Clav. fusiformis_--WD 104⁹. _C. vermicularis_--WD
104¹⁰. _C. fumosa_--Hvass 303; WD 104¹¹. _Clav. helvola_--Hvass 300;
WD 105¹.
[Illustration: Plate 57. Club-shaped and coral fungi]
~Clavulinopsis corniculata~ (Fries), Corner (p. 171).
_Cap_: absent. _Fruit-body_: complex; width 20-30 mm; length 20-40 mm.
_Description_: Plate 57.
Fruit-body: shape depending on the length of grass in which it grows
but always branching strongly from its base, composed of a dense
compact tuft of egg-yellow or orange-tawny branches which are either
irregular or of equal length and so they form a flattened top to the
fruit-body complex, the branchlets are slender, forked 2- or 3-times,
with their apices narrowed or curved.
Stem: very downy at the base.
Flesh: pale yellow.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, smooth, spherical
and 5-7 µm in diameter, not becoming bluish grey in iodine solutions.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Common amongst grass in fields or on
grassy path sides in woodland.
_General Information_: _Clavulinopsis corniculata_ is recognised by
the branched habit and the smooth spores; _Ramaria ochraceo-virens_ is
of similar form, but has an overall duller colour and turns green on
bruising, grows in pinewoods and has finely roughened brownish spores.
_Calocera viscosa_ also has an erect, bright golden or orange-yellow
fruit-body which becomes more orange on drying. It is repeatedly
branched and usually has a long, tough-rooting base. However, the
spore-print is dirty yellowish and the fruit-body, which grows on
coniferous wood, is viscid and elastic, a character reflected in the
name ‘viscosa’. Microscopically the basidium of _Calocera_ is shaped
like a tuning-fork and is not clavate as in _Clavulinopsis
corniculata_. It appears to be more related to the jelly-fungi (see p.
180).
_Illustrations_: _Clavulinopsis corniculata_--LH 55; NB 6; WD 104³.
_Calocera viscosa_--Hvass 304; LH 225; NB 149³; WD 107⁸.
~Typhula erythropus~ Fries.
_Cap_: absent. _Fruit-body_ up to 20 mm high.
_Description_:
Fruit-body: upper fertile portion club-shaped and not more than half
the length, white, surmounting a reddish brown, thread-like, often
wavy or twisted stem which is attached at its base to an ellipsoid
bead-like structure, called a sclerotium.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: oblong, smooth, hyaline under the microscope, 6-7 × 2 µm in
size and not becoming bluish grey in iodine solutions.
Cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Not uncommon on dead leaves and twigs or
dead herbaceous stems.
~Pistillaria micans~ Fries.
_Cap_: absent. _Fruit-body_: up to 10 mm high.
_Description_:
Club-shaped or oblong, rose-pink hardly differentiated from the
similarly coloured stem, and arising at most from a small pad of
filaments.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: broadly ellipsoid to pip-shaped, smooth, hyaline under the
microscope, about 10 × 6 µm (8-11 × 5-7 µm) in size and not becoming
bluish grey in iodine solutions.
Cystidia: absent.