Fungi identification

[Cugel]

Just lately I've been taking close-ups of the fungi springing up in Brechfa forest and elsewhere hereabouts, usually when dog walking. I'm a novice at macro photography and bereft of the expensive lenses, bellows and other gubbins traditionally employed. Instead I use a-one o' them remarkable modern digital cameras of the compact variety. The one I have is an Olympus TG4 which is a weatheproof item also having something called a microscope mode.

This microscope mode is a series of abilities enabling various kinds of macro photography without the expensive lenses et al. It allows the lens to come very close (1cm) to the subject yet still focus. It has focus stacking (varies the initial focus slightly then combines the in-focus parts of ten pics taken rapidly one after the other). It will perform in-camera magnification at various degrees up to 11X.

There are compromises; and it's not all that easy to use for various ergonomic reasons. But it can take photos that are of a reasonable, if not the best, quality for someone not looking for "professional" results.

But I ramble.

Fungi are fascinating structures but not easy to identify without picking them to get spore sprints or put the spores under a microscope. One may consider their shape, colour, habit and so forth and make an educated guess. Perhaps some of you can make guesses more educated than mine? Here's a few to start:

Any ideas? Which ones should I cook for tea?

Cugel

[Mick F]

I had a similar thread Dec 2011.
viewtopic.php?t=58205
I didn't eat it, or attempt to either.

[Debs]

Cugel, that's an amazing assortment of fungi you have there.
But as much as they fascinate, i always in my ignorance and scaredy cat manner think they be poisonous.

I consume quite a few mushrooms bought from the supermarket. They usually end up in an omelette : p

In my back garden we get the peculiar emergence of shaggy inkcaps which are apparently edible if you can eat them in time but they tend to very quickly transform in the a black gunky mess.



A couple of days later:



Shaggy Inkcap fungi is also known as 'Lawyers wig', so the ink is good for writing poison pen letters to my local Tory MP who supports the unlawful Government dePiffle. Alas he's really not a fun guy : /

[reohn2]

It's made a right mess of that wall,one can only hope it has the same effect on your MP's majority

[Oldjohnw]

This?

[Oldjohnw]

And this?

[Debs]

It's made a right mess of that wall,one can only hope it has the same effect on your MP's majority

It's a bit off topic so i'll stay in my briefs:
Twice i've written to my MP all very polite and respectful but twice he's not replied, a Remain constituency here but he has turned his back on us to follow his own agenda. The Lib Dems are waiting to nail the git in the next GE.

Pink Floyd The Wall: It was [note past tense] ridiculously leaning and obviously quite dangerous, and a very expensive thing to fix, fortunately the structure is the property of my neighbour. Although it took me many years of complaining and prompting to get them to make it safe

[Tangled Metal]

It's amazing what you can get out of a digital compact camera. I once got an amazing shot of coral fungus with my old camera. Decade or more ago. I don't think I can post it on here. You need to give a link to a cloud photo storage site iirc. I don't use them. Put it this way, that image eased good enough for a book on funghi. An expert photographer couldn't get better.

Google coral fungus and look for a bright yellow one with shiny fruiting bodies. You'll see what they look like.

[Cugel]

Cugel, that's an amazing assortment of fungi you have there.
But as much as they fascinate, i always in my ignorance and scaredy cat manner think they be poisonous.

I consume quite a few mushrooms bought from the supermarket. They usually end up in an omelette : p

In my back garden we get the peculiar emergence of shaggy inkcaps which are apparently edible if you can eat them in time but they tend to very quickly transform in the a black gunky mess.



A couple of days later:



Shaggy Ink Cap fungi is also known as 'Lawyers wig', so the ink is good for writing poison pen letters to my local Tory MP who supports the unlawful Government dePiffle. Alas he's really not a fun guy : /

Those inkcaps are coming up here on our front lawn an' all. Perhaps we should gather up the later stage inky ones and send them to Tangled so he can load up his many fountain pens? The goo was used for ink in days of yore. I wonder if the docs eventually get damp and sprout new inkcap fruiting bodies?

As to the Proto-fascist revolutionary Trots pretending to be conservative - The Destroying Angel (Amanita Phalloides ) for them! On the other hand, they may already have been at the Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria) which has sent them orf to The Loon Couds.

Cugel

[Cugel]

IMG_20190819_180930_256.jpg

This?

A puff ball of some kind (scleroderma or lycoperdon).

Cugel

[Cugel]

IMG_20190907_141058843.jpg

And this?

Possibilities:

Pholiota destruens
Amanita strangulata
Psathyrella caput-medusae

Cugel

[Cugel]

It's amazing what you can get out of a digital compact camera. I once got an amazing shot of coral fungus with my old camera. Decade or more ago. I don't think I can post it on here. You need to give a link to a cloud photo storage site iirc. I don't use them. Put it this way, that image eased good enough for a book on funghi. An expert photographer couldn't get better.

Google coral fungus and look for a bright yellow one with shiny fruiting bodies. You'll see what they look like.

I'll be looking for some o' them!

I've yet to improve my fungus fotos. I need to devise a better tripod arrangement as well as a delayed or remote shutter release, to avoid any camera shake on the low light level pics. I do have a clever ring-light that uses the camera's LED illumination light channelled to a light-emitting ring around the lens. This improves auto focus but can also illuminate each shutter release of the stacked variety used to achieve a deeper depth of field. But I'm still getting a bit of camera shake.

There's a website illustrating what can be done with the camera and it's ring-LED and ring-flash attachments in the way of macros:

https://cameras.olympus.com/tg4fd1review/en/

Cugel

[Cugel]

More mushroom monsters.

Two pics of two different kinds. One grows in grassland (the white one with the very frilly aspect) and the other on evergreen stumps (the dark pink & cream one). Anyone know what they are?

Cugel

[661-Pete]

Any ideas? Which ones should I cook for tea?

Cugel

Well - simple answer to that one! None of them! Under no circumstances should anyone who's not sure of identification, or if it's only been identified by some geek on an internet forum, eat any wild fungus. The risks are too great. But I'm sure you knew that already.

Nevertheless, I'll do my best.
No.1 haven't a clue. Might be a very overblown Russula or Lactarius, but the reticulations on the stem are puzzling.
No.2 looks like Plums and Custard (no - really!) Tricholomopsis rutilans. Allegedly edible but not recommended. Would be more sure if I could see the gills.
No.3 Chanterelle aka Girolle - Cantharellus cibarius. One of the most popular and tasty of edible mushrooms - if it's been ID'd right.
No.4 Again not very clear but may be Sulphur tuft Hypholoma fasciculare. Poisonous.
No.5 I thought I'd identified it but have now changed my mind. Sorry, can't ID.

[PDQ Mobile]

Often risky to give ID by photo only. Habitat is often a factor.

Initially for example I thought your big brown one could be something very delicious but the gills alone betray it as something much less interesting.
Found Amanita Muscaria yest. Beautiful but not edible I hasten to add.
And a nice Birch Bolete nearby.

Pete is right. Never take a chance on something.

I could recommend Roger Phillips pictorial guide "Mushrooms and other fungi of GB and Europe (Pan Book) as a decent and pretty comprehensive layman's guide with very fine pictures.