Iced Bun Fungus

Bolete Mould, Hypomeces chrysospermus.  Cross-section of infected Boletus.  Hayes Common, 25 December 2011.

Here's a fungus I found on Christmas day, while walking in the woods, enjoying the sunshine.

Boletes are a well-known type of edible fungus. Particularly well-known is Boletus edulis, known to gourmets as the cep in France, porcini in Italy, and in England, the Penny Bun, for its round, brown, bread-crust-like cap. But this specimen looked more like an iced bun. That appearance is caused by the Bolete Mould, which does its best to eat the delicious cep before we can get at it.

I saw half a dozen of these around the wood, making it look as though the usual plain buns had been decorated for the holiday. In fact, the bottom photo is of another specimen I saw the next day.

Bolete Mould, Hypomeces chrysospermus.  Top view.  Hayes Common, 25 December 2011.

Bolete Mould, Hypomeces chrysospermus. Stem and gills. Hayes Common, 26 December 2011.

Blushing Bracket

Blushing Bracket, Daedaleopsis confragosa. Underside. On a fallen tree on Hayes Common. 21 December 2011.

I walked round the local woods a few times around Christmas and found many fungi. Some looked rather ordinary; some looked messy; one looked like nothing I could identify, a jellified yellow cup full of grey ash.  The brackets were probably the most noticeable.  This one looked rather smart, at least from below.

It was on a small fallen tree in a dense patch of woodland, and there was so much of it on the tree that it was probably the reason it died. I counted about 30 brackets like this one. Here's a shot of the top surface of a few of the lower ones.

Blushing Bracket, Daedaleopsis confragosa. Upper side. On a fallen tree on Hayes Common. 21 December 2011.

Jumping Spider

Jumping spider, Marpissa muscosa, in my back garden in Hayes.  1 June 2011.

Unlike the Garden Spider in my last post, this beast is a hunter, and relies on good eyesight to see its prey. When it gets close, it makes a sudden leap and catches the victim that way. There is an amazing variety of food-catching techniques among spiders.

Small jumping spiders often turn up in the house on hot days. They explore vertical surfaces, moving up and down frmces and walls, and can easily come through open windows without an awareness of the consequences.

So, huge eyes, nimbleness and sturdy legs are its main characteristics; it also has camouflaging markings, as does another common jumping spider, the aptly named Zebrina, though they don't work very well on this unnaturally plain background.

You can see in the poto below that this Marpissa has two of its eyes set further back, so that it can see if anything is creeping up on it. This one actually stopped and looked up at me when I got close; pity I didn't get a good shot of that!

Jumping spider, Marpissa muscosa, on a fence in my back garden in Hayes.  1 June 2011.

Notocactus

Notocactus in flower on the back balcony of my house in Hayes.  11 July 2011.

Happy Christmas! And to go with it, a colourful photo of one of the cacti that sit outside the back of my house in the summer and come indoors to a back windowsill in the winter. (The back of my house faces south.) Slugs love these flowers, though the rest of the plant is too tough for them, and I have to move it out of their reach if I want to benefit from this display.

It's not in flower now; this pic was in July. I think this is a species of Notocactus, though it's obviously not the same as the other cactus I posted in September.

For the first time in the 20-odd years I have had it, this plant put out another flower out of season, in November. Here's a closeup of the centre of that flower.

Out-of-season Notocactus flower on my back windowsill.  18 November 2011.

Two Brown Fungi

Brown Rollrim, Paxillus involutus (perhaps).  Hayes Common, 13 December 2011.

I walked round my local woods, on Hayes Common, before the frosts came, to see what fungi I could find. I managed to find and photograph several, but identifying them is a very different matter. Here are two that I found growing up through the oak and beech leaf litter, both very well disguised despite the fact that they were as big across as the palm of my hand.

I am only just able to tell that they are not the same species, but I am learning the useful features to notice. These were both given likely identities by the people on iSpot. This pair gives a clear illustration of one point to note; whether the rim of the cap curls downwards or up.

The way the ribs connect to the stem is also important; sometimes they are attached to the stem for some way down its length, as they are on both of these, more on top photo than the lower one.  The colour of the ribs and the spores is also useful, though you won't know about the spores unless you collect a specimen and let some of the spores drop out onto some paper.

Tawny Funnel, Lepista flaccida (perhaps). Hayes Common, 13 December 21.

Dragonflies

Broad-bodied chaser, Libellula depressa, by the pond in Spring Park, 3 June 2011.

I saw quite a few dragonflies during the year, but didn't get many photos; they move too fast for me, swooping and circling, though better photographers seem to manage! The dragonfly experts recognise them in flight, from the flash of colour and their behaviour, but I can't do that. However, a few types will rest regularly, and this is what I got.

The first shot is a Broad-bodied Chaser in Spring Park, patrolling around the small pond and occasionally resting on a plant. I posted a photo of this dragonfly earlier: Broad-Bodied Chaser.

Black-tailed skimmer, Orthetrum cancellatum, on the ground by the middle lake.  Keston Ponds, 29 June 2011.

This one, a Black-tailed Skimmer at the much larger Keston Ponds, had a similar habit, but rested on the ground. The Chaser had brown eyes, but I really liked the colour of these, a jewel-like dark mottled green.

Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum.  Jubilee Country Park, 31 July 2011.

Finally, later in the summer I saw this one by Ray's Pond in Jubilee Country Park. It chose a tall dead stalk to sit on, and looked over the pond as it rested. The pond is fenced off and I coulnd't get a better angle, but this one does show off its wings very nicely.

Garden Spider

Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus, in front of my house in Hayes.  10 September 2011.

I have already posted some spiders this year; Tegenaria gigantea and Pholcus phalangoides among others. But those aren't the only ones I photographed. I got some good shots of this Garden Spider, probably our commonest orb web spinner. The specimen above lived at the bottom of my front steps. Here's another photo that shows the cross-shaped pattern on its abdomen more clearly.

Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus, in front of my house in Hayes.  10 September 2011.

It's really a beautiful creature, and of course it is carnivorous. In the next shot, a different specimen I saw in a nearby wood, you see it has been wrapping a victim, which might have been another spider. You can see from the web and the way its claws are placed that it has been spinning the creature to wrap it in the silk from its spinnerets, which you can't see but which are at the tip of its abdomen.

Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus, wrapping a victim.  West Wickham Common, 22 September 2011.

Orb web spiders rely on their sense of touch to detect prey in their webs, so do not need large eyes. You can see that although it has eight eyes, they are all quite small. It only has two mandibles, but they are quite large!

I will post some more spiders soon.

Hairy Curtain Crust

Hairy Curtain Crust, Stereum hirsutum.  Fungus.   On a rotting log in Hayes Common, 9 December 2011.

It's still a good time for fungi, though it is getting colder, and I see lots of them as I walk around. This one was on the trunk of a felled tree, lying on the ground. But I can only identify a few with any certainty, and I have to go elsewhere for most of my identifications.

This one was pinned down for me by the helpful people on iSpot, an Open University site. You can find many different fungi on decomposing wood; they are one of the main agents of that decomposition. This one was a bit floppy to the touch, though not jelly-like as some are, and tore fairly easily. I was intrigued by the hairiness of its upper surface, giving it a fringed look, which you can see clearly in the closeup below.  The thumbnail gives you the scale.

Hairy Curtain Crust, Stereum hirsutum.  A fragment. On a rotting log in Hayes Common, 9 December 2011.

Parrot Waxcap

Parrot Waxcap, Hygrocybe psittacina. Young specimen. High Elms Country Park, 10 December 2011.

I was surprised to see this green fungus in the woods. The colour is unusual; I have seen red, orange, white and yellow fungi before but not one like this.

I was browsing around the woods in High Elms Country Park before a meeting of the Orpington Field Club, so I was able to show the photo to them straight away, and of course a couple of them knew it. I looked it up later and it is not supposed to be scarce, though it isn't supposed to grow in the woods.

But it can't be anything else. The young ones are quite green, and they become more yellowish as they age. They are particularly slimy, as I found when I picked one to photograph the gills.

Parrot Waxcap, Hygrocybe psittacina. High Elms Country Park, 10 December 2011.

Parrot Waxcap, Hygrocybe psittacina. High Elms Country Park, 10 December 2011.

Lady's Bedstraw

Fairy-ring Longhorn Beetle, Pseudovadonia livida, on Lady's Bedstraw, Galium verum.  Keston Common, 29 June 2011.

Two more photos from earlier in the year. Lady's Bedstraw (apparently it serves as bedding to only one lady) grows freely among the grass in this area, adding a pleasant fresh yellow to the scene. The photo below, from a neighbouring common, shows it among grasses, with Red Clover and Ribwort Plantain also visible. There are always several, sometimes many, plant species among uncultivated grass; this grass is cut once a year, in autumn.

The Fairy-ring Longhorn Beetle is common, and is often found on flowers.

Lady's bedstraw, Galium verum.  Hayes Common, Keston Countryside Day, 26 June 2011.

Sundew Gemmae

Drosera pycnoblasta with gemmae, on my windowsill in Hayes. 9 December 2011.

Sundews are a group of carnivorous plants, living in nutrient-poor areas such as bogs and marshes. They are quite widespread and quite varied in form. They catch small insects on the sticky glands which tip the hairs on their leaves, which then curl around the insect and digest it.

This makes them interesting pot plants, and the glisten of their gluey glands gives them a particular beauty, which is referenced in both the scientific and the English names. They have other interesting features too, one of which is an odd method of reproduction, common in fungi and lichens but not in flowering plants.

The plant shown above is a pigmy sundew, one of about 40 species originating from sandy soils in Australia. The green blobs in the centre are gemmae, small self-contained reproductive units which can break off and grow independently.

The gemmae are easy to harvest, with care, and are easily found for sale, for example on eBay. The next photo is a couple of larger gemmae just harvested and planted.  Larger, but still only 2mm across.  I recently planted some that are only 0.5mm. Manipulating them is delicate work.

Gemmae of Drosera scorpioides beginning to sprout on my windowsill in Hayes, 10 December 2011.

On the left you can see the boat-shaped gemma, with the new plant just starting to develop leaves and a root. On the right, the leaves are a little more developed and even at this size, they look like sundews. I expect that Drosera scorpioides will be a bit more robust than the D. pycnoblasta above; some of its rosettes are dying off, but that might be because they flowered earlier this year.  I posted this photo: Drosera pycnoblasta flower.

I have had varying success with gemmae.  Two species, including last year's D. pycnoblasta gemmae, failed to grow, but one species did reasonably well. The last photo shows some rosettes of my half-success, Drosera pulchella. These are one year old from gemmae. They vary in size and health. The largest rosette is just over 1cm across and looking good, but the smallest (not in this photo) is almost invisible.

Drosera pulchella grown from gemmae after 1 year, on my windowsill in Hayes. 9 December 2011.

The Last of My True Bugs

Bug on Hogweed, Heraclium sphondylium.  Spring Park, 4 July 2011.

These are the last of my true bug photos for now. I was not able to conclusively identify the one above. I think it is either a Potato Capsid or a Potato Mirid, Closterotomus norvegicus or Calocoris norvegicus.

The one below has actually been posted before, but I am including it for the sake of completeness. It's a Tortoise Bug, and to me it looks similar to the shield bugs except for its odd plastic-looking mouthparts. It was in the bushes at the edge of an insect-rich meadow. And below it is another specimen, this one from a hedge in Scadbury Park.

Tortoise bug, Eurygaster testudinaria. Darrick Wood, 22 May 2011.

Tortoise bug, Eurygaster testudinaria.  Scadbury Park, 20 July 2011.

The Valley Behind Leaves Green

The diagonal track into the valley from Ashmore Farm. Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

This is another view of our walk on 3rd December. This valley is lovely in the summer. I walked down here in the middle of the year and there were interesting plants even right by the path, including Pyramidal Orchids just about where I was standing when I took this photo. That's so even though you can see that the area is thoroughly farmed and has power lines overhead.

But I don't want to suggest that it wasn't interesting last Saturday, well after the end of summer. For example, this large fungus, growing on the village green.

Parasol fungus.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

It's a parasol fungus - I don't know the species. Those darker flaps attached to the top, that give it its distinctive appearance, are the remains of a veil that encloses the whole cap when it is small.

Parasol fungus.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

And here, underneath the cap, you can see the lower part of that veil halfway up the stem. Some fungi have veils that enclose the stem as well, and some of those are very poisonous, so this is a good thing to watch for.

I was looking at the plants, but some of the group were birdwatchers, who enjoyed seeing buzzards circling above the trees. We also saw some Rose-ringed Parakeets, raucous and colourful birds that have recently become naturalised here.

Five Rose-ringed Parakeets, Psittacula krameri, in an oak tree on the straight path down from Ashmore Farm.
Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

The bird-lovers are rather dismissive of these invaders, but I used to enjoy watching them come to my garden peanut feeder when I lived in West Wickham.

We also saw mosses and lichens. Here's one:

Lichen, Parmelia sulcata, on a tree.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

I think this is Parmelia sulcata, though I am quite prepared to be corrected. It's very common, so I really should know it ... There were mosses, too. This one was fruiting and gave a good view of its distinctive spore capsules.

Moss, Rhynchostegium confertum.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

But the most suprising thing we saw was this, seen through a hedge. At first there were a couple of horse riders, then suddenly a flock of sheep appeared! It is not at all usual for people to herd sheep on horseback here, though apparently it is in some parts of the world, so it's not likely that this was a flock that really needed herding.  Apparently some of them escaped into the woods, so if they are serious about this, they do need the practice!

Herding sheep on horseback.  The valley behind Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

Leaves Green

Orpington Field Club walking down into the valley from below Ashmore Farm.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

Another outing for the Orpington Field Club! This time we were led on a walk from Leaves Green, across one of Bromley's dry chalk valleys. We walked down a lane with banks of clay soil, up and down grassy chalk slopes, and through woods.

Two of us also go to Sue Buckingham's weekly wildflower classes, so we were taking the opportunity to look for plants actually in flower. We found more than 30 different species, mostly single plants flowering out of season. I will write more about this later.

But we also saw the sort of thing you would expect to find at the beginning of winter.

Fruiting heads of Hogweed, Heraclium sphondylium, behind the car park in Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

This is what Hogweed looks like in December. In summer, the white flower heads attract hordes of beetles and flies.  The fields in the valley were full of this sort of thing; dried heads of Wild Carrot, Yarrow, Ribwort Plantain and some others that we failed to identify.  But the grass was green below them, and full of the young leaves of other plants that should grow to maturity next year.

Ferns do not flower, of course; they reproduce with spores.  In the lane we passed a large and healthy Hart's-tongue Fern. They like it dark and damp.

Undersurface of a frond of Hart's-tongue Fern, Asplenium scolopendrium.  Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

On the second half of our walk, on a path through a wood, we saw quite a few fungi.  The woods were suitably dark and damp; we have had plenty of light rain, the days are short, and the sunlight is weak.

Fungus, Crepidotus species, probably mollis, growing on a fallen branch.  Near Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

This is the underside of one that was growing on a piece of rotten wood. It was quite soft and flexible.

Fungus, Candlesnuff, Xylaria hypoxylon, near Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

Candlesnuff, sometimes called the Stag's-horn fungus, is common in the woods round here, and it, too, grows on rotting wood.  We saw a lot of it on our recent morning at Blackbush Shaw, but none of my photos of it from that day came out right.  High contrast subjects taken with a flash are tricky!  These shoots are only an inch or two long. 

Fungus, Marasmius epiphyllus, growing on a dead beech leaf, near Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

These tiny fragile umbrellas were growing on a single fallen beech leaf, helping it to rot back down into the earth.

I will finish this post with one of the flowers we found, a delicate pink bud of the wild dog rose.  An unexpected sight, completely out of season.  But there is more to tell about this trip; it will be in the next post.

Bud of Dog-rose, Rosa canina, near Leaves Green, 3 December 2011.

Green Shield and Pied Shield

Green Shield Bug, Palomena prasina, 4th instar nymph.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 30 July 2011.

I didn't see the adult forms of either of these two, though the first at least should be pretty common. It looks rather plain compared to the other shield bugs, and particularly the bright creature below, but at least it has a good disguise.

I saw the second one by accident whan I was photographing the plant it was crawling on, which is a Black Horehound, related to the dead-nettles. This plant is said to have a strong and unpleasant smell, so I have picked and crushed a lot of leaves this year to test this, but I don't find it unpleasant. Perhaps I have only come across weak specimens. (Late correction: The creature below is a final instar nymph of the Brassica Bug, not the Pied Shieldbug. Learning continues!).

One of the tricky things about insects is the way their younger forms often look very different from the adults.

Final instar nymph of the Brassica Bug, Eurydema oleracea, on Black Horehound, Ballota nigra.
Gates Green Road, Coney Hall, 5 September 2011.

Forest Bug and Gorse Shield Bug

Forest Bug, Pentatoma rufipes.  Moth morning on Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve, 14 August 2011.

Above, another shield bug. I posted some photos of Forest Bug instars and an adult earlier. The woods around Hayes were full of these earlier in the year, mostly on oak trees but also on beech, but from August onwards I only saw this one, which came to the moth trap at Sevenoaks Nature Reserve.

Below, a Gorse Shield Bug. It has yellow legs and yellow stripes along its sides, and matches its food plants quite well. I only had this one glimpse of this species, and it quickly retreated into the prickly depths.  It's supposed to feed on Broom (Cytisus scoparius) as well as Gorse (Ulex europaeus); it would have been easier to chase on a Broom, as they aren't as prickly as this bush.

Gorse Shield Bug, Piezodorus lituratus.  Hayes Common, 18 May 2011.

Sloe Bug

Sloe bug, Dolycoris baccarum.  Adult.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 30 July 2011.

Another true bug, also a shield bug. This sloe bug is sometimes called the hairy bug; it is the only one of our shield bugs to be hairy. Even the adult has a fringe of hairs, hard to see without a lens.

The hairs are much more noticeable in the earlier stages of its growth. Below are two earlier instars.

Despite the name, these bugs don't feed on Sloe bushes (aka Blackthorns). I read on-line: "It really loves berries, especially Honeysuckle and Raspberries. It walks all over them, leaving behind an awful stinking substance. This makes all berries it walked over inedible."  Shame - it looks rather smart!

Sloe bug, Dolycoris baccarum.  Late instar nymph.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 30 July 2011.

Late instar nymph of the sloe bug, Dolycoris baccarum.  Hayes Common, 24 June 2011.