This foray was held jointly with the West Weald Fungus Recording Group and the Spelthorne Natural History Society, with a few members of London Natural History Society, Surrey Wildlife Trust, and British Gall Society, joining individually. Led by Brian we marched through drenching, cold rain, to find an impressive total of 102 species of fungi and three slime moulds, as listed below. An effort was made to take most of the collections to a laboratory, in order to identify them correctly or to confirm the provisional names given to them in situ. However, two records given to us by visiting forayers could not be fully followed-up (marked U, below). Our thanks are due to A. Henrici, G.G. Kibby (GGK) and H. Voglmayr (HV, University of Vienna) for their help in identification of fungi.
By foraying in late November we hoped to find and show the visitors the rare colony of Aseroë rubra. Oxshott Heath is the only locality in Britain, and indeed in the entire northern hemisphere, where this fungus, a curious member of Phallaceae, has been recorded. It has been seen almost annually since its discovery in 1993 (Spooner, 1994). Its main distribution range is in warm, Pacific regions in the southern hemisphere. and it is a mystery how the Oxshott colony was established But this year we seemed to have missed their fruiting altogether, due to the early arrival of autumn rain in September.
Here and there we saw large areas previously planted with Scots pine and larch trees, felled, cleared and bulldozed, under the management scheme by Elmbridge Borough Council, intending to restore the glory of Surrey's heathland habitat. In one area we saw bedraggled bunches of white toadstools growing on a pile of conifer branches. This was another rarity, Hebelomina neerlandica, described by Huijsman, a Dutch mycologist, in 1946 and renamed in his own revision in 1978. The genus Hebelomina Maire, in its original sense, has been synonymised with Hebeloma, much commoner in Britain, by Danish mycologists. But this Hebelomina neerlandica differs from a Hebeloma in having hyaline or very pale spores and being lignicolous. The spores have cyanophilous and dextrinoid cell walls. For now we adopt Huijsman's naming, as no other appropriate generic name has been proposed. In Britain, this species has been recorded only from Oxshott.
* = new to Esher (6 spp.). K = specimen deposited at Mycology Herbarium, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (U) = specimen not examined by ourselves.
Agaricus impudicus
Agaricus silvaticus
Amanita muscaria
Amphisphaeria millepunctata (Fuckel) Petr. *
on dead attached branch, Acer pseudoplatanus, det. HV K
Ascocoryne sarcoides
Auriscalpium vulgare on cone, Pinus sylvestris
Baespora myosuraon cone, Pinus sylvestris
Bjerkandera adusta on trunk, Betula pendula
Botryobasidium subcoronatumon rotten trunk, Betula sp.
Bulgaria inquinans on branch, Quercus robur K
Calocera pallidospathulata on decorticated branch, Pinus sylvestris
Calocera viscosa on Pinus
Ceratostomella cirrhosa (Pers.) Sacc. teleomorph on branch, ?Acer sp.
Chaetosphaerella phaeostroma holomorph, on fungal stroma on Acer pseudoplatanus
Chalciporus piperatus
Chlorosplenium aeruginascens holomorph, on rotten branch, Quercus robur
Claviceps purpurea sclerotia on inflorescences, Molinia caerulea
Clitocybe dicolor
Clitocybe ditopa
Clitocybe fragrans
Clitocybe geotropa
Clitocybe vibecina (U)
Collybia butyracea
Collybia maculata
Coprinus atramentarius
Cortinarius acetosus (Velen.) Melot * near Pinus sylvestris, det. GGK K
Crepidotus cesatii on twigs, Rubus fruticosus agg.
Crepidotus epibryus on twigs and herb stems
Crepidotus variabilis on debris, Rubus fruticosus agg.
Cystoderma amianthinum
Dacrymyces stillatus
Daedaleopsis confragosa
Diaporthe pustulata (Desm.) Sacc. * on dead attached branch, Acer pseudoplatanus, det HV K
Exidia nucleata
Exidia plana on rotten branch, Quercus sp.
Ganoderma applanatum on rotten trunk, Quercus robur
Galerina clavata
Galerina (aff.) vittaeformis (Fr.) Moser
Gymnopilus penetrans
Hebeloma (cf.) pusillum J.E. Lange* near Betula, Quercus, Pinus spp. K
Hebelomina neerlandica (incl. Hebelomina (cf.) neerlandica) on branches and in litter, coniferous K
Heterobasidion annosum
Hydnum repandum near Pinus sylvestris
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca
Hygrophorus hypothejus
Hypholoma fasciculare
Hypocrea pulvinata on rotten fruitbody, Piptoporus betulinus
Hypomyces aurantiuson fruitbody, Postia sp. on Betula sp. K
Hypoxylon multiforme on trunk, Betula sp.
Laccaria amethystina
Laccaria laccata
Lactarius quietus under Quercus robur
Leotia lubrica
Lepista (aff.) irina (Fr.) H.E. Bigelow K
Lycoperdon nigrescens
Lycoperdon perlatum
Marasmiellus ramealis
Mycena cinerella
Mycena galericulata
Mycena galopus
Mycena polygramma
Mycena pura
Mycena speirea
Mycena vitilis
Nectria cinnabarinaholomorph, on branch, Acer pseudoplatanus
Octospora humosa
Octospora leucoloma K
Octospora rutilans
Panellus serotinuson Betula fallen trunk
Panellus stipticus
Phaeogalera dissimulans (B. & Br.) Holec * [= Pholiota oedipus (Cooke) Orton] K
Phaeolus schweinitzii at base of rotten stump, Pinus sylvestris
Piptoporus betulinuson trunk, Betula spp.
Pluteus cervinus
Postia stiptica
Postia subcaesia
Postia tephroleuca
Psathyrella piluliformis on stump, ?Fagaceae
Radulomyces confluens
Ramularia urticaeon leaves, Urtica dioica
Rhopographus filicinus on rhachide, Pteridium aquilinum
Russula atropurpurea (U)
Russula betularum near Betula pubescens
Russula fragilis
Russula ochreoleuca
Schizopora paradoxa
Scleroderma citrinum
Spinellus fusiger on fruitbody, Mycena sp. K
Splanchnonema pupulaon dead attached branch, Acer pseudoplatanus, det. HV K
Stegonsporium pyriforme on dead attached branch, Acer pseudoplatanus,
conf. HV
Stereum hirsutum
Stereum ramealeon branch, Quercus robur
Stereum subtomentosum
Stropharia semiglobata
Suillus luteus
Trametes versicolor
Trechispora mollusca (Pers.) Lib. * on rotten trunk, Betula pubescens
Trichaptum abietinumon stump, Pinus sp.
Tricholoma fulvum
Tricholoma scalpturatum
Typhula quisquiliaris on rhachide, Pteridium aquilinum K
Xylaria hypoxylon
Myxomycetes (slime moulds)
Fuligo septica
Trichia botrytis on bark, Pinus sylvestris
Lycogala terrestre on trunk, Betula sp.
Reference
Spooner, B.M. (1994). Aseroë rubra at Oxshott. Mycologist 8: 153.
Mariko Parslow & Brian Spooner