Fungi mass

[tarves57]

Not quite sure what these are yet, but they are certainly very squashed together.

Susan

[tarves57]

I think this might be Armillaria Mellea or Honey Fungus, but correct me if I am wrong!

Suan

[seb_seb]

Ive got them in my garden under some conifers......whatever they are?

[Leif]

Ive got them in my garden under some conifers......whatever they are?

Probably Coprinus micaceus. This species has stems that are white and brittle and gills that are blackish when mature. It grows on rotten wood.

[seb_seb]

Thanks Leif

[cjay]

Could they not be Fairies Bonnets (Coprinus disseminiatus)

[Leif]

I wouldn't rule out C disseminatus. It's often hard to know from a photo. I wonder what the cap size is? Phillips gives the max cap height of C micaceus and C disseminatus as 4 cm and 1.5 cm respectively. C micaceus has distinct orange tones to the cap, whereas I don't recall C diss. being orange.

[tarves57]

I wouldn't rule out C disseminatus. It's often hard to know from a photo. I wonder what the cap size is? Phillips gives the max cap height of C micaceus and C disseminatus as 4 cm and 1.5 cm respectively. C micaceus has distinct orange tones to the cap, whereas I don't recall C diss. being orange.

Hi Leif, Not sure how one would measure mushrooms but if we take the forthermost top mushroom, it would measure approximately 5cm from point to edge of cap.

The only thing that I could find that distinguishes them from other mushrooms is that they are growing in a clump, hence thinking they might be honey fungus as that was the nearest I could find in my book.

Susan

[cjay]

No they are not the right shape for HoneY Fungus. They are of the genus coprinus though.

CJ

[Leif]

Hi Leif, Not sure how one would measure mushrooms but if we take the forthermost top mushroom, it would measure approximately 5cm from point to edge of cap.

The only thing that I could find that distinguishes them from other mushrooms is that they are growing in a clump, hence thinking they might be honey fungus as that was the nearest I could find in my book.

Susan

Honey Fungus is indeed quite common. However, if you look at the stem of Honey Fungus you will see an obvious ring. Coprinus species have no ring. You also usually see some 'grains' on the cap surface of HF. Note also the shape of the cap. The ones you photographed are conical. Honey Fungus has caps that open out into an umbrella shape. They are also often quite large in diameter. I have seen HF caps 8" across. And of course another feature to look at is the colour of the gills on mature specimens.

Other very common clump forming wood munchers include Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) which is bright yellow, Psathyrella hydrophila which has brown caps, white stems and brittle flesh, and Galerina Mutabilis which has slimy orange caps and shaggy brown stems. The last one is a good edible mushoom but looks just like several deadly poisonous mushrooms. Even experienced collectors are wary.