Mike Higgins
Teifion Davies talking the group through some of the species they could expect to see
Wales Branch’s 6th Annual Fungi Walk was organised at Clyne Gardens, Swansea, by Teifion Davies and Steve Lucocq.
Teifion has recently retired as head gardener at Clyne but was happy to lead the walk again and we were very fortunate to be able to benefit from his expertise. As always, there was great attendance – predominantly from the arboricultural industry, both public and private sector – and everyone was engaged throughout the whole day.
Teifion guided us through the 5-hectare site to spots where fungi had been seen earlier in the month. We found species we’ve not encountered on our annual walk before as well as some old favourites, and we were treated to fruit bodies at various stages of development, which is a great help for identifying fungi when they are not in a textbook condition.
There are 2,500 trees on site, comprising 350–400 different species, and due to the inter-relationships between trees and fungi, it is likely that Clyne has more fungal species than anywhere else in the city of Swansea.
Teifion began the day with a run through the sorts of fungi we would likely find and how they interact with trees and their environment, including the three primary ways in which fungi interact with wood:
- Mycorrhizal fungi, which have a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship with living trees, helping the tree to access a greater area of nutrients and water in the soil. The tree returns the favour by providing the fungi with carbohydrates. 15–20% of what the tree makes can go to the fungi, while the fungi can provide around 80% of a tree’s nitrogen requirements.
- Parasitic fungi, which obtain nutrients from a living host, like a tree, and can be detrimental to the tree.
- Wood-decay (saprophytic) fungi feed on decaying organic matter and helping to recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem. Fungi are among the most efficient saprotrophs.
Steve Lucocq presenting our guide, Teifion Davies, with an early Christmas present – no doubt a fungi book!
The management approach at Clyne Gardens is to keep the site as close to a ‘woodland environment’ as possible, allowing leaf litter to remain and retaining fallen stems and branches under the trees to encourage decaying wood environments and minimise compaction by naturally limiting access. It is thought that 25–50% of all biodiversity in woodlands feeds on decaying wood, so the management and encouragement of this type of habitat benefits biodiversity on site. Additionally, some species only live on decaying wood, so maintaining these unique habitats is crucial.
Although Clyne Gardens attempts to keep nearly all arisings in situ in the form of log piles or woodchip, as the gardens attract large numbers of visitors it is sometimes necessary to relocate some material to other less-used areas of the site, to continue to benefit biodiversity whilst also maintaining the accessible public garden feel. This is a balance that appears to be working. When you leave the more typical public routes through the garden, you find log piles and woodchip. Very large fallen trees are left in situ, providing interesting visual and biodiversity features throughout the site.
The use of woodchip has resulted in numerous fungi species thriving, including some non-native species. However, Clyne Gardens is one of Wales’s 22 Sentinel Sites where the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out plant health inspections twice a year to identify potential issues in terms of damaging and regulated plant pests and diseases. This allows the gardens to maintain interesting trees and fungi whilst also regularly observing the collection for possible issues and acting as necessary.
There was an interesting discussion about actively introducing mycorrhizal fungi to soil to assist with tree establishment. There are complex relationships between specific tree species and specific mycorrhizal fungi growing together and benefitting each other, and it is unlikely that a ‘catch-all’ product will be feasible in the near future. It is typically preferable to improve soil quality on a site to encourage and sustain the natural mycorrhizal fungi present in the soil rather than introducing fungi that may actually be detrimental.
At the end of the event Steve presented Teifion with a book, although this year it was wrapped for Christmas so I don’t know what it was – no doubt fungi based! I am sure, however, that Teifion will have read it by next year’s walk and will share his new knowledge with us then.
Thank you as always to Teifion and Steve for arranging the event, and of course to everyone who took the time to attend and add such value to the day through discussions and conversations.
Photos by Mike Higgins
1. Hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa) at the base of one of Clyne’s 250 oaks.
2. Sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare).This is a secondary decay coloniser which occurs most commonly once the tree has fallen but can also be seen colonising damaged trees, for example on strimmer-damaged roots.
3. Brittlestem (likely to be a Psathyrella sp.). These small, delicate saprophytic fungi were found growing on fallen timber with sulphur tuft.
4. Blusher amanita (Amanita rubescens). These mycorrhizal fungi were growing on the ground in proximity to broadleaf trees, although the species is also associated with softwoods.
5. Charcoal burner (Russula cyanoxantha). Although it is a brittlegill, this particular fungal species is identifiable by the more flexible resilient gills, as can be seen in the photo which shows Steve testing the gills.
6. Cauliflower fungus (Sparassis crispa) at the base of Pinus radiata. Likely to be growing on a dead portion of root. The species has been growing on this site for 40 years on the row of pines. The row lost the end tree through root base failure 15 years ago.
7. Blackening polypore (Meripilus giganteus) on the rootplate of a failed oak. When the tree failed about five years ago, significant decayed roots were visible. Fortunately for the group, the rootplate hosting the Meripilus had fruit bodies in various stages ranging from emerging through to decaying. As the common name suggests, these fruit bodies bruise almost black when damaged.
8. Common stump brittlestem (Psathyrella piluliformis). This is also a secondary coloniser typically found on the decaying stumps and stems of broadleaf trees.
9. Ganoderma sp. at the base of an ash. The cocoa-coloured spores can be seen in the image; it is thought that Ganoderma sp. can give out over 30 billion spores per day over a six-month period.
10. Collared earthstar (Geastrum triplex). This saprophyte was growing below a Cupressus sp. and is a member of the puffball family, using a similar method of dispersing its spores. The spores are ejected out of the peristome (opening at the top of the sac) when raindrops land on the sac.
11. Upright coral fungus (Ramaria stricta). This was growing on the ground and is an unusual fungus in that it can be saprotrophic and mycorrhizal.
12. Beefsteak fungus (Fistulina hepatica). A well-decayed specimen growing on an oak tree at a height of about 2 m.
13. Dyer’s polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii). A very decayed example being held by Teifion. Observing any fungi in different stages of its life cycle – even in advanced decay – helps in the future with observations on other sites.
14. Root rot fungus (Heterobasidion annosum) on the stump of a Nothofagus obliqua, although it is a wood rotter that can be destructive in plantations. It can colonise trees via root–root contact. Peniophora gigantea is a fungus that can be used to inoculate stumps once cut, which once established will colonise the stumps to prevent H. annosum colonising.
15. Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus). A well-decayed specimen on an oak snag/monolith, which also included a woodpecker hole near the top.
- 16. Orange pore cap (Favolaschia calocera). This fungus is incredibly bright and stood out on the fallen beech stem. It has a honeycomb appearance on the underside which is also visible on the upper side as a similar pattern. Fruit bodies have the appearance of small table tennis bats (hence their other common name, ping-pong bat fungi). This is a rare non-native that has only just been found in South Wales.
17. Yellowing curtain crust (Stereum subtomentosum). This is a relatively uncommon fungus found on fallen hardwood species, most commonly beech as in this case. It can be confused with Trametes versicolor, although T. versicolor has tiny, shallow pores on the underside and S. subtomentosum has a smooth underside.
18. Common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum) in the leaf litter and showing a bright yellow colour as well as a scattering of the grey spores around the fruit body.
19. Hairy curtain crust (Stereum hirsutum) growing on deadwood.
20. Bitter oysterling (Panellus stipticus). These small white fungi were colonising a fallen beech stem, with some of the fruit bodies showing a short, tapering stem.
21. Beech woodwart (Hypoxylon fragiforme). As the name suggests, these small black lumps were found on the fallen stems of beech.
22. Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) on a fallen stem within a habitat pile. It appeared to have already been lunch for some local slugs.
23. Laxitextum bicolor on a failed beech. This small, wavy bracket is often confused with Stereum sp. and therefore overlooked, which is the likely reason for the lack of records for this species.
24. Stump puffball (Apioperdon pyriforme) emerging from the failed root plate of a beech.
25. Dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) spotted on the end of a failed beech stem. Interestingly, it is possible to see the spore halo on the stump which is the result of the asci exploding to eject their spores.
26. Greyling bracket (Postia tephroleuca). A secondary coloniser. This particular specimen was found on the failed stem of a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus).
27. Bleeding oak crust (Stereum gausapatum) on the branch of a red oak (Quercus rubra). It was also spotted elsewhere within the crown of the same tree, present on branches in various stages of decay.
This article was taken from Issue 211 Winter 2025 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.