Concise Mushroom Guide
Page 8
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Cup to 12cm. Cup-shaped fungus. Inner surface pale brownish-buff, exterior slightly paler. Edge becomes wavy in larger specimens and is usually toothed. Grows singly or in small troops on soil around stumps, and rotting sawdust and wood. Occurs late spring to late autumn. Uncommon.
Scarlet Elf Cup
Sarcoscypha austriaca
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Cup to 5cm. Red, reddish or pink fungus up to 1.5cm tall. Inner surface bright scarlet, outer surface paler and covered in matted white hairs. Margin becomes tattered as it expands. Cup-shaped fruit body has a narrow short stem. Flesh pale and brittle.
HABITAT
Gregarious, growing on dead wood. Quite common in continental Europe, and in Britain found particularly in the east. S. coccinea, a very similar species, is more frequent in the west. The two species can only be distinguished from each other by microscopic features.
SEASON
Early winter to early spring.
Common Morel
Morchella esculenta
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Fruit body to 20cm tall, comprising head and stem. Distinctive fungus highly regarded as a table delicacy. Cap variably brown, wrinkled and oval or conical. Stem white and thick. Flesh white, brittle and thin.
HABITAT
Grows singly or in scattered troops on calcareous soil and burned ground in damp deciduous woodland. Often found among ash trees. Widespread but uncommon over much of Europe.
SEASON
Spring.
SIMILAR SPECIES Black Morel (M. elata).
Fruit body to 15cm tall. Cap pointed and conical with pits in vertical rows. Of more northerly distribution, smaller and generally even rarer than Common Morel.
Beech Woodwart
Hypoxylon fragiforme
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Fruit body to 1cm. Tiny fungus. Appears as small spheres (the fruit body, or stroma) that are rusty-red at first, then become black. Surface minutely rough. Red phase is short-lived and tends to occur in late summer, so the fungus is usually encountered later in the season in the black state, in which it is very persistent.
HABITAT
Grows in masses on the trunks and branches of dead beeches that still have bark attached. Widespread and very common.
SEASON
All year round.
King Alfred’s Cakes
Daldinia concentrica
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Fruit body to 10cm. Forms in successive layers, appearing as round and shiny black lumps. Initially covered with a reddish spore layer, but this washes off, leaving the black surface. If cut in half the fungus can be seen to be composed of concentric layers of very dark to very light grey material. Also called Cramp Balls because it is said to relieve cramps.
HABITAT
Grows on ash trees, and rarely on other deciduous trees. Different species can be found on other hosts.
SEASON
All year round; old specimens persist for many years.
Candlesnuff Fungus
Xylaria hypoxylon
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Height 3–5cm. One of the most common fungi on dead wood of all kinds. Consists of flattened black stems that arise vertically from wood and usually (but not always) branch into 2–5-pointed antler-like extensions. These are white at first, then blacken as they mature until eventually the whole fungus is black.
HABITAT
Grows singly or in groups on dead wood, particularly the rotting stumps of deciduous trees, favouring ash trees. Widespread and common.
SEASON
All year round.
Summer Truffle
Tuber aestivum
SIZE AND DESCRIPTION
Fruit body to 7cm. A rare and prized edible species. Fruit body irregularly spherical with a blackish-brown surface covered in pyramidal warts. Solid interior yellowish-grey to brown marbled with whitish veins.
HABITAT
Grows underground in calcareous soils at about 2–10cm in depth, typically in association with beeches, and less often with Sweet Chestnuts and evergreen oaks. In Britain found only in southern England, where it is rare; more common in central and southern Europe.
SEASON
Summer to autumn.
First published in 2011 by New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd
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