Trichia favoginea slime mould & parasitic fungi Polycephalomyces tomentosus at Strumpshaw Fen – Winter 2025/26

We've seen these mature sporangial and spore mass groupings before, but I've never been bothered to try and ID them. Probably they are a Trichia species — the matt, saturated yellow is quite distinctive.

28th December 2025 & 1st January 2026

Along the drainage channel path (towards The Outpost), I spotted these late juvenile yellowish-brown and brownish-orange sporangia.

In the photo below, some of the sporangia along the top of the centre group are maturing through a matt buff colour.

The following photos were taken four days later — the sporangia had turned into wonderful brownish orange and orange brown hues.

The next two show the maturing sporangia from the centre group, now appearing matt pinkish buff.

These sporangia are already becoming host to a tiny white drumstick-like parasitic fungi 🤯

And below we have some dehisced sporangia exposing yellow-orange spore masses.

The photo below shows some pale honey-yellow sporangia pre-dehiscence adjacent to some younger yellowish-brown sporangia.

January / February 2026

We would visit the reserve several times during January and February and little change was evident between those visits. Since the 1st January visit, the sporangia had matured to matt cinnamon & pinkish buffs.

March 2026

We checked out the Trichia favoginea twice in March — one visit being a Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray (15th March 2026). It was after the foray that the one of the members of the group ID'd the slime mould as Trichia favoginea and the parasitic fungus as Polycephalomyces tomentosus.

Just based on macroscopic features, I myself had been considering either Trichia scabra or Trichia favoginea.

More of the sporangia were being parasitised by the tiny fungus.

8th March

25th March

In the photo below, the sporangia have dehisced with the spore masses still inside the peridial cup.

Epilogue

And finally at the end of April — the matt, saturated yellow spore masses that we've seen before around the reserve...