ShowcaseForty minutes in one beech wood

Good afternoon all. I don't often post anything other than flowers, but I had forty minutes in the beech wood behind the church on Thursday while my husband was at the dentist, and it was full of fungi after all the rain.

The ones I was happiest with: a cluster of little white, almost see-through mushrooms high up on a fallen beech branch, which I could only reach by standing on a log. Some tiny black and white antler-shaped things coming out of an old stump, no taller than a fingernail. And a red-capped one on its own in the leaf litter, which I photographed from ground level and then could not get up again without help from a passing dog walker.

All with the LX100 at the wide end, very close, as it doesn't seem to mind. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what they are. I am not planning to eat them.

F

Oh this is a lovely little haul! From the descriptions (and with the usual caveat that fungi ID from words is a fool's game):

The translucent white ones high on fallen beech are almost certainly porcelain fungus (Oudemansiella mucida). They're slimy to the touch and pretty much only grow on beech, so the wood fits perfectly.

The little black and white antlers are candlesnuff fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon), the white tips are spores (well, asexual spores, but that's another post).

The red one alone in leaf litter is the tricky one. Under beech it could be the beechwood sickener (Russula nobilis), but there are a lot of red Russulas and most need a spore print and sometimes a taste test I would NOT recommend.

Also the LX100 being happy at close range is underrated. That small sensor and wide end gets you enough depth of field without stacking.

The dog walker rescue made my day! Porcelain fungus is one of my favorites, we don't get it here in Ohio, so I'm a little jealous. Next time try a small white card or even a receipt to bounce some light under the caps, the gills are half the beauty.

Thank you both, that is very kind and very helpful. Porcelain fungus is a perfect name for them. I shall take a white card next time, and possibly a cushion for my knees.

F

This is the best thread I've read all week. Our woods are pure mud at the moment but the fungi are proper going for it. The knees thing is real, I've started taking a bin bag to kneel on.

Dreich said:

I've started taking a bin bag to kneel on

A foam gardening kneeler changed my life (a sentence I never thought I'd type on a camera forum).