There was a lot to see this month so this post is an overview and I’ll aim to post separately about the some of species we encountered during May.

We began to see more Stemonitis and Lycogala epidendrum and our first Fuligo septica of the year.

Early May

In the Zen Zone the slime mould parasitic fungus Stilbella was still prolific (below) and we would continue to see it again throughout the month.

Near the Yew Grove — along the Woodland Trail — we spotted some Xylaria polymorpha (dead man’s fingers).

We went to visit these Xylaria polymorpha again later in the month. The group below is the same as the group in the photo above two weeks later.

Before The Outpost inside a rotting stump we spotted three juvenile Lycogala epidendrum aethalia.

Mid-May

Early mid-May at the Zen Zone we saw this wonderful clump of juvenile Lycogala epidendrum aethalia which we would continue to see throughout the month.

In November 2023 at Basecamp during my daughter’s mycological survey of the woodland at Strumpshaw Fen, she found clusters of Coprinellus micaceus – the Glistening Inkcap – under one of the log circle logs.

Under the same log we found Coprinellus micaceus again.

Near The Outpost we spotted our first Fuligo septica of the year.

More May Fuligo septica here.

Late May

Average temperatures began to rise in May but perhaps more importantly for slime moulds, from mid-May we had more rain and we began to see more Stemonitis, Lycogala epidendrum and Fuligo septica.

At the Zen Zone the daughter spotted some Stemonitis spore mass sporangia on a mossy tree stump.

And on an adjacent log growing on the moss — a gregarious slime mould with pale orange sporangia with orange stalks.

In and amongst the orange sporangia were more mature sporangia — maybe of the orange slime above? It’s difficult to see but could these mature sporangia have orange stalks?

I’m leaning towards wanting this slime mould to be Physarum psittacinum.

Although a Google image search brings up wonderfully sharp and colourfully photos that bear little resemblance to mine — following up with Bruce Ing’s identification handbook doesn’t rule out this slime mould being P. psittacinum :

Sporocarps stalked sporangia, gregarious, often in large developments, globose… Stalk brilliant orange or reddish-brown… Plasmodium yellow or orange

Out of the The Dell and before the Sandy Glade, on a decaying section of trunk to the side of the path, we spotted groups of what at first glance looked like Stemonitis.

But nine hours later our expectations were confounded!

After a Google image search I’m thinking — could this be Arcyria obvelata ? A week later there was no sign of this slime mould.

In the area towards the end of the Woodland Trail we found some slime mould similar to the orange slime mould with orange stalks that we found at the Zen Zone (above).

And more Stemonitis — in the morning we saw the Stemonitis below as developing sporangia.

And in the evening it had collapsed into a dark amorphous mass…

On a fallen trunk — on which we have previously seen Stemonitis — we spotted a few groups. The two below we saw in the morning as a cluster of immature sporangia (left) and a smaller cluster (right) with more developed sporangia.

And in the evening.

On the same the trunk another cluster of immature sporangia.

And in the evening it had become a beautiful mass of translucent, vinaceous brown sporangia, some with darker tips.

End of May

Near Basecamp, on a well rotting log that is often populated with slime moulds, we spotted Arcyria cinerea.

In the photo below, the white translucent film looks like it’s the plasmodium of Arcyria cinerea — if you click and zoom in on the photo you can see immature white sporangia forms (and more mature grey forms) developing from the white plasmodium.

And in the woodland near The Dell we spotted some Lasiosphaeria ovina – the wooly woodwart.