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Fungi
Introduction to fungus biology
Melastiza
The Orange Cup (Melastiza cornubiensis) an ascomycete of the order discomycetes (disc-fungi). The upper surface bears microscopic hairs, some sterile paraphyses and some spore-bearing cylinders or flasks called asci, each ascus containing 8 spores when ripe. The ripe spores are discharged under pressure.
There are a number of orange disc and cup-fungi are determination can clearly be tricky (at least without resorting to microscopy and/or chemical tests). One factor to consider is habitat and preferred substrate. Melastiza cornubensis grows in clusters on sandy and gravelly soils. the fungus pictured here was growing around the base of an urban tree, on the edge of a small town, where the tarmac had been broken up by the tree's roots and was beginning to form a sandy and gravelly soil. Morphologically similar forms occur on other substrates: Scutellinia umbrorum forms dense clusters but on rotten wood or bare soil and whereas M. cornubensis has minute downy hairs at the margins of the discs, the lower surface of the discs of S. umbrorum are covered with more obvious, short and stiff dark brown hairs. Octospora rutilans forms more yellowish orange discs that are clustered among Polytrichum-type mosses on sandy soil.
Scutellinia scutellata forms dense clusters of small orange-scarlet discs on rotten wood / woody debris that is often moss-covered and the lower surface of the discs is brownish and covered with long pointed and dark-brain hairs, hence its common name of Eyelash Fungus. The undersurface of the discs in M. cornubensis is smooth and the same color as the upper surface.
The beautiful Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia) forms orange cups that are often irregular in contour (like pieces of orange peel) and forms clusters in woods on bare soil, especially gravelly soil. These discs are generally larger than what we have here: A. aurantia discs reach 1 to 10 cm in diameter.
All of the ornage-disc fungi mentioned are members of the Pezizales, an order of discomycete. The discomycetes are all ascomycetes, fungi characterised by producing spores in flask-like asci.
Looking at lots of specimens or photographs can certainly help, as each form has its own characteristic appearance, though form and color can be variable and many photographs on the internet have clearly been misidentified. On the grounds of morphology, color and substrate i am fairly confident that we are indeed looking at Melastiza cornubiensis here.
Helvella crispa (Common Helvella)
Helvella crispa is another discomycete. The disc-like cap, however, is considerably contorted. This fungus forms either single sporing bodies or small troops on the soil of broadleaf or mixed woodlands. The cap is up to 6 cm in diameter and the stem reaches 12 cm in height. The curious stem is deeply grooved/furrowed with lacunae (open spaces) leading to a hollow interior. The stem has been likened to 'flowing plastic' in its appearance.
Daldinia
Daldinia concentrica (King Alfred's Cakes) is an Ascomycete that grows as a parasite on Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) but can continue feeding on dead trunks and branches. It may occur rarely on other trees, such as Birch (Betula) and Gorse (Ulex). The sporing bodies are called stromata (sing. stroma) and in section each stroma consists of alternating concentric light and dark bands. The surface may be covered in a fine powder of asexual spores called conidia. In the outer layers, minute flask-like perithecia (sing. perithecium) develop, each lined by ascogenous hyphae: hyphae that develop into tiny cylindrical spore containers called asci (sing. ascus) each containing 8 sexual ascospores. The stroma acts as a water reserve for spore development and discharge. In many ascomycetes the spores are discharged explosively when the asci swell with water. due to this water reserve, detached stromata can continue to release spores for up to three weeks. Spore discharge is nocturnal, with a typical stroma releasing 10 million spores a night.
See also: Fagus sylvatica (European Ash).
Hypoxylon
Above: Hypoxylon nummularium an encrusting pyrenomycete fungus (a type of ascomycete). The stroma (flesh of the sporing body) is hard and black and the minute flask-shaped spore-producing perithecia are embedded with the flesh.
Xylaria hypoxylon
This is the small but unmistakable Candle-snuff Fungus which grows in woodland on the decaying stumps and branches of (mostly) deciduous trees. This fungus is an ascomycete.
Coral Fungi - Clavulina
Above: Clavulina cristata, the Crested Coral fungus (a basidiomycete). This species is common in coniferous woods, less so in broadleaf woods.
Above and below: Ramaria stricta (Strict-branch Coral Fungus) is a basidiomycete (homobasidiomycete) that reaches up to 11 cm tall whose sporing body branches repeatedly, each branch terminating in a forked tip. Found in woodland (mostly broad-leaved) on soil and plant debris, favoring beech (Fagus sylvatica) with which it presumably forms a mycorrhizal symbiosis, though the fungus can grow without its plant host.
The forked tips are yellow initially, changing to the same color as the branches.
