26th October 2024

I’ve been seeing more artillery fungus — Sphaerobolus stellatus — at the allotment since I first discovered it in November 2022.

The photo below shows open, empty peridia, some with the translucent inner layer turned inside out as a blob, after the peridiole (spore capsule) has been ejected. There are also a few peridia that had not yet opened.

Close up below of empty peridia with two closed peridia on the left and also what looks like it could be a spore capsule adjacent one of the closed peridia. On the far right there’s an open peridia that looks like it still has it’s spore capsule inside.

Peridia with their blobby inside layers after the spore capsule has been ejected.

These open peridia below with their spore capsules still inside are wonderful.

My initial reaction to next two photos was: why was I taking photos of hazelnuts (we have hazels on the allotment), until I noticed the short stem and the mycelial down of these unidentified mushrooms.

On the same branch some primordia which could be the same fungus as the two above.

Some glaucous green, yellow and white mould forms (not slime moulds).

The photo below shows a small cluster of orange Trichia decipiens sporangia on the end grain of a weathered pallet block.

And nearby some clay-buff sporangia likely more mature T. decipiens

But after inspecting the photos at home I noticed that between the two sporangia groups there was a gregarious, minute pin mould like fungus.

The next two photos show some crowded, pale yellow sporangia, likely Trichia varia within a bark fissure.

On some rotting PSE softwood a small, cute cluster of pale bluish-grey slime mould sporangia. Could these be Heterotrichia pomiformis (synonym Arcyria pomiformis) — the so-called golden apple slime mould?

On the same piece of PSE there was a large, gregarious group of mature slime mould sporangia which look like they could be Comatricha nigra.

The photo below (a close up of the left of the photo above) showing some mouldy sporangia.

In the photo below on the left in the middle are two shiny, black younger sporangia.

And at the end of this piece of PSE was a cluster of white, juvenile sporangia which also could be Comatricha nigra.

Later at home I took a series of photos that show the colour transformation from white in the photo above, through translucent pinkish-buff to a translucent vinaceous grey.

2nd November 2024

Collybiopsis ramealis – the twig parachute fungus.

Unable to hold in the compost, deteriorating pallets get a second life as a potential home for fungi and slime moulds. On one, a small group of juvenile, likely Physarum album, slime mould sporangia (circled in orange).

And tucked into the jagged break of a broken piece of PSE were some moist, creamy-white, cylindrical slime mould sporangia that struck me as a species that I had not seen before. But after going back to the photos a number times it occurred to me that maybe they are Arcyria cinerea.

I brought the slime moulds back home to observe their transformation during the rest of the day.

At midday

Mid-afternoon.

Late afternoon.

Late at night.

18th November

On the same piece of PSE softwood that I spotted the possible Heterotrichia pomiformis (and Comatricha nigra) in October (see above), I noticed some small groups of slime mould sporangia that were similar in form.

And also on this piece of wood were some slightly more elongated sporangia that were a hint of pink and had the somewhat flattened base that Arcyria cinerea or A. denudata has. The A. cinerea that I’ve previously seen have been shades of grey or bluish-grey, while A. denudata has been more wine-red.

Different angle below of the two groups above showing some of the left sporangia beginning to split at the top. One of the sporangia is showing what appears to be what looks like deeper pink capillitium and spores emerging from the split. So could these be A. denudata?