Strumpshaw Fen slime moulds & fungi June 2025 – the return of Fuligo septica & Lycogala !

Despite the sighting of a small cluster of Lycogala epidendrum aethalia at the beginning of February and the capillitial remains of a Reticularia lycoperdon in May, April and May came and went with a disappointing absence of Fuligo septica, Lycogala epidendrum and Reticularia lycoperdon, which we saw in abundance during these months last year – Reticularia lycoperdon, Fuligo septica, Lycogala epidendrum.

So in June we were excited to see the return of Fuligo septica and Lycogala epidendrum to the woodland. And there were other wonderful finds that would make this post too long, so I’ll be posting about them in detail in separate posts, as well as the Fuligo septica and Lycogala epidendrum that we saw.

The Fuligo septica below was spotted along the path to Basecamp from Reception.

We found the salmon coloured early-stage Lycogala epidendrum aethalia cluster below on a decaying trunk along the drainage channel path of the woodland trail (before the Yew trees). We had been keeping an eye on this trunk for some time and, while we had never spotted any slime moulds on it previously, we suspected that the level of decay was right for slime moulds.

I’ll add separate posts soon with all the Lycogala epidendrum and Fuligo septica we spotted in June.

1st June

At Basecamp we spotted these inkcaps.

Mycokey’s identification tool suggests that they are Parasola auricoma – the goldenhaired inkcap. While similar to Parasola plicatilis – the pleated inkcap – Parasola auricoma is generally found in a woodland setting whereas the other two appear in grass settings. It has to be said, however, that we have seen Parasola plicatilis in grassy areas of the woodland, like The Dell.

A distinguishing feature of Parasola auricoma is that it has setae (hair-like structures) on the cap that can be seen with a hand lens or under a microscope, and whereas a mature Parasola plicatilis tends to have a greying cap, Parasola auricoma retains a somewhat reddish-brown colour.

Back on the path, between The Dell and the Sandy Glade, we spotted Stemonitis on a section of trunk where we previously spotted what may have been the slime mould Arcyria obvelata. Also on the trunk were scattered groups of Lycogala epidendrum aethalia at various stages of development.

On the decaying trunk that we had been keeping an eye on—along the drainage channel path—some lovely Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa slime mould.

At the end of the drainage channel path, before the Yew trees, we spotted a solitary Cerioporus squamosus – a dryad’s saddle.

Near The Outpost some translucent, vinaceous Stemonitopsis typhina sporangia and what I think is Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa—although you could be mistaken for thinking it’s early-stage sporangia of the Stemonitopsis typhina.

We haven’t seen the slime mould Mucilago crustacea since my daughter’s mycological survey in 2023. After The Outpost we noticed this slime mould spreading through some moss on section of trunk.

8th June

At Basecamp a cluster of wonderfully tortured mushroom caps.

Mycokey’s identification tool conclusively identifies these mushrooms as Candolleomyces candolleanus – the pale brittlestem.

While at Basecamp we decided to check out the section of trunk that has been home to what we believe is Artomyces pyxidatus – the crown tipped coral – and it was there again!

A moth event was concluding, so I took the opportunity to chat with the staff about this apparently rare fungus—that to definitively identify it, a spore print needed to be taken. They gave us permission to take one of the fruiting bodies home to do the spore print which I’ll document in a separate post soon.

The daughter spotted these Artomyces pyxidatus fruiting bodies on this trunk during her 2023 mycological survey of the reserve woodland.

Along the drainage channel path the daughter spotted some Mycena acicula – orange bonnet.

14th June

Along the path from The Dell to the Gnarly Oak some unidentified slime mould sporangia.

At the end of the drainage channel path, a super find—we think that the vivid orange plasmodium below is Physarum psittacinum. The sporangia that developed from it were similar to other sporangia that we have previously seen in the reserve, which we also suspected were Physarum psittacinum.

We revisited the reserve over the following days and although we missed out on the sporulation stage, we did get to see a striking colour change in the sporotheca, which I’ll show in an upcoming post.

Near The Outpost, on a broken section of the fallen trunk where we saw Stemonitis and Badhamia utricularis, some likely Hemitrichia clavata.

16th June

We returned to the reserve in the evening to check out the likely Physarum psittacinum plasmodium that we discovered two days earlier. But were even more excited to find some wonderful displays of Arcyria obvelata on the trunk, near The Outpost, where we saw Stemonitis slime mould, Badhamia utricularis and plasmodia.

Also on the trunk were some lovely luminescent yellow sporangia that we would later identify as likely Physarum album.

At The Dell we spotted four clusters of what we initially thought would be Stemonitis, but the next day it turned out it was more Arcyria obvelata ! We began to realise that the primordial stages of both Arcyria obvelata and some Stemonitis species (at least the ones we’ve spotted) are pretty much the same in that they both appear as clusters of semi-translucent white globes.

The photo above shows the white primordia before sporangial elongation, and the photo below of the sporangia dehiscing, exposing the capillitial spore mass. Notice the top centre cluster with the cute dark brown tips.

More photos of the Arcyria obvelata coming in a separate post.

17th June

Where we found the Physarum psittacinum a few days ago, we spotted some white primordia. With the presence of Arcyria obvelata in the reserve woodland, we became excited that these primordia might also be Arcyria obvelata.

But it turned out to be Stemonitis.

22nd June

At the same location at Basecamp another Candolleomyces candolleanus (pale brittlestem).

And on the trunk near The Outpost, where we spotted the wonderful Arcyria obvelata clusters, two Reticularia lycoperdon slime mould aethalia (false puffball).