Green and Yellow

Bisporella citrina, Lemon Disco.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

This odd little fungus is Lemon Disco, Bisporella citrina.  The individual blobs are very small, but there can be a lot of them.  This orange display drew me to a log by the side of a path through High Elms Country Park.

Log with two fungus species.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

I came for the lemon disco, but stayed for that blue-green stuff on the right .. that is Green Elfcup, a fungus which is quite common, but rarely seen in fruit.  We know it's common because the wood it grows in is stained dark green even when it's not fruiting, and that is found quite often.

Chlorociboria species, Green Elfcup.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

Here are the oddly-coloured fruiting bodies.  It's one of two possible species that can't be told apart from a photograph.

That's a great display for a mycologist, though in my opinion, rather an ugly colour ... the wood turns out quite nicely, though.  At one time, it was dried and used to create Tunbridge ware, a form of decorative inlaid woodwork.

(The title of this post, "Green and Yellow" was the title of a folk song I knew as a teenager, a version of the song more commonly known as "Lord Randal."  It did not refer to these fungi, though it could easily have done.)

Showy and Common

Trametes hirsuta, Hairy Bracket.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

In this post are two rather similar fungi that produce showy displays when they are fresh.  This first one is Hairy Bracket, Trametes hirsuta.  Similar to, and nearly as common as Turkeytail, Trametes versicolor.  The individual brackets are a couple of inches across and, when young, they are quite hairy.

Trametes hirsuta, Hairy Bracket.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

They can completely cover a dead log, like this.  The colour forms range from light brown to almost black, and the zoning effect you can see here makes it an easily recognisable species (except that there is another similar one - a common problem for identifiers! - which has larger brackets.)

The second fungus in this post also produces many small brackets, and can also cover dead wood.

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

It can even have a similar zoned appearance, as you can see here.

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

And, as you might expect from its name, it's hairy!

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  Topside and underside.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

But the hairs last longer.  Old Turkeytail does not look particularly hairy, and the brackets seem quite thin.  And if you are ever in doubt about which one you are looking at, the underside is completely different.  That last photo shows the underside of Hairy Curtain Crust on the right.  Here is the underside of Turkeytail:

Trametes versicolor, Turkeytail.  Underside.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

Very obviously covered with pores. 

I Don't Need No ... Chlorophyll

Myxomycete, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa.  High Elms Country Park, 19 June 2016.

If you think about plants that are not green, have no green leaves and do not need sunlight to make their food, you might think of fungi and perhaps slime moulds (Myxomycetes).  Actually, though, neither of these can really be called plants. 

Myxomycetes eat all sorts of tiny things, including bacteria and fungus spores, and most of them slurp around as a sort of mobile jelly until they settle down and put up spore-bearing organs like those shown here.  You can see the jelly form in this photo too.

Pale Stagshorn, Calocera pallidospathulata.  High Elms Country Park, 23 May 2016.

This one is a fungus.  Athough it looks rather like the Myxomycete and lives in the same sort of place, on rotting wood, it is not any sort of close relation, just as, for example, dragonflies and swifts are not closely related even though they both fly around snapping up insects. 

But there are also quite a few true plants that do not have any chlorophyll.  They are parasitic, leeching off the root systems of plants that do get their energy from the sun.

Common Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria.  High Elms Country Park, 24 March 2016.

Here is one, the Common Toothwort, that comes up early in the year in old woodland.  It is usually associated with Hazel. 

Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor.  High Elms Country Park, 19 June 2016.

There are also a whole group of Broomrapes that parasitise various plants.  They are not very common, and this is the only one I have seen locally.  I think it's the Common Broomrape, which parasitises a range of plants.  It was certainly in amongst a mixed group.

Yellow Bird's Nest, Monotropa hypopitys.  High Elms Country Park, 20 July 2016.

This is another parasite, but at one remove.  It feeds off fungi which in turn are linked to tree roots. The fungi provide minerals and basic food substances to the trees, and the trees provide sugars to the fungi.  Then the Yellow Bird's-nest grabs its food from the fungi.  SOmetimes you can trace a tree's roots by looking at the growth patterns of this plant.

I used to wonder how it got its common name, but this year I saw a mature flower:

Yellow Bird's Nest, Monotropa hypopitys.  Closeup of flower.  High Elms Country Park, 8 July 2016.

And it became less of a mystery.

All these so far have been seen at High Elms Country Park this year.  This last example, below, was photographed in the same park a couple of years ago.

Bird's Nest Orchid,  Neottia nidus-avis.   High Elms Country Park, 29 June 2013.

Not to be confused with the Yellow Bird's-nest, though it often grows near it - as it does here - this is the Bird's Nest Orchid.  It is also associated with tree roots; Beech, in this case.

As you can see, most of these plants are yellowish and sickly-looking.  But they are actually bursting with health, which makes one woonder about the state of their victims!

Non-Moths of 2015 - Harvestmen

Harvestman, Oligolophus hanseni. Cuckoo Wood, High Elms, 12 August 2015

I have a row of posts planned, showing creatures that came in or near moth traps last year that were not moths.  Starting with harvestmen, which are not spiders, even though they look similar. (I'll end with spiders.)  Some have short legs, like this Oligolophus hanseni, and some have very long legs, so that they are one of the three groups of creatures that get called "Daddy Long-legs."

They are carnivorous, and when I do night trapping sessions I often see them wandering around, presumably on the hunt (though possibly on the hunt for mates), like this first one, which was just passing by my trap when I photographed it.  I don't usually find them actually in the trap.

Harvestman, Leiobunum blackwalli.   Hayes, 11 November 2015

This female Leiobunum blackwalli was on the outside of my garden trap in Hayes in the morning.  It has long legs, but not really long legs.  Unlike this:

Dicranopalpus ramosus.  House wall in Crowborough, 7 October 2015.

The legs of this Dicranopalpus ramosus are so long and fine that I failed to get their tips into the shot.  My eyesight is not as sharp as it once was!  Here is a closer shot of the body:

Dicranopalpus ramosus.  House wall in Crowborough, 7 October 2015.

Unlike spiders, harvestmen have a single part to their body.  The two eyes are on top of a little periscope at the front.  There are enough species that I am very dubious about identifying most of them, but this one has long forked palps as well as those long, long legs out to the sides, so I can pretend to be knowledgeable by identifying it at a glance.

These last two harvestmen were not actually in or near an actual moth trap, but I always check the front wall of this house in Crowborough when I visit, because moths are often to be found resting near the porch light.  When I took these photos, part of the wall was instead covered with these D. ramosus, with among them just one different harvestman:

Red Harvestman, Opilio canestrinii.  House wall in Crowborough, 7 October 2015.

A Red Harvestman, also long-legged, but with the legs spread fore and aft instead of to the sides.

Red Harvestman, Opilio canestrinii.  House wall in Crowborough, 7 October 2015.

Close up, you can see more differences, such as the much shorter and unbranched palps.  The tip of the one to our right is not missing; it is turned under, feeling the surface of the wall.

I did not identify any of these except for the Dicranopalpus ramosus.  That was done by helpful people on iSpot.

Muddy High Elms

Beech Walk, High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2016.

The tone of winter walks is often dictated by the weather, and I have been on a few around High Elms in the rain.  On this, day, though, the few members of the Orpington Field Club who braved the weather forecast (heavy rain) were rewarded with just occasional light drizzle.  Still not all that cheerful, though!  It was very muddy, mostly more so than this photo suggests.

Here's another shot of the Beech Walk, this time from the top, looking more imposing and, deceptively, even less muddy.

Beech Walk, High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2016.

There are two trackways because one is for pedestrians, and the other is a bridleway, for horses and bicycles.   They are about the same quality underfoot. The reason for keeping to the pedestrian side is exactly the same as the reason for keeping to the pavement in urban streets.

High speed downhill cycling is discouraged by those half-barriers.

Burnt Gorse from the low end, High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2016.

This field is called Burnt Gorse, from a name found on an old tithe map.  It is cut well back in autumn to maintain its open character.  As you can see, a series of electricity power pylons reach above it; the same series that I photographed on the far side of the hill in September.  Most of the High Elms estate is woodland surrounding a golf course, but there are also a few open areas like this.

The wires make a loud hissing or buzzing noise.  As we entered at the low end of the field, it sounded very like a stream rushing along nearby - but this is a dry valley.

Hazel shrub, Corylus avellana, with catkins.  Burnt Gorse, High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2016. 

Hazels are already full of their catkins and some are shedding pollen.  They are normally early starters, but this winter's warm weather may have brought them on too soon.

There are still a few fungi around.

Unidentified fungus on felled Scots Pine.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2016. 

This one, which looks almost like part of a honeycomb, has proved to be hard to identify.  It might be something rare, or it might be something quite common growing in an unusual form.

Deer in Mist

Roe deer, Capreolus capreolus,  in a field between the High Elms estate and North End Lane.  3 October 2015.

I rarely take landscape views these days, but I do like mist.  It makes the world more mysterious and personal by hiding everything that's in the distance, and things tend to loom.  Big objects loom a lot.  This is a typical countryside scene, with massive pylons dominating farmland.  A small group of Roe Deer are running for the safety of some brush under the nearest pylon.

I could not get close to those deer.  Like nearly all wild creatures, they are wary of people.  At least my 100mm macro lens gives enough magnification that you can see them clearly in this shot:

Roe deer, Capreolus capreolus,  in a field between the High Elms estate and North End Lane.  3 October 2015.

I was following a badger track across a field of stubble towards a copse, and the deer emerged from behind the copse.  (I could be sure about it being a badger track because I found the sett in the copse, and on the far side was a latrine area which badgers use as a territory marker.) 

Three Clouds

Clouded Magpie, Calospilos sylvata.  Cuckoo Wood, High Elms, 9 July 2015.

Here are some related species of moth seen recently.  The first is a Clouded Magpie, caught at High Elms just long enough to photograph.  It's the first time I have seen one of these, and three of them came to my trap.  I think it's a real beauty.  The caterpillar eats various types of Elm.

Clouded Border, Lomaspilis marginata.  Hayes, 11 July 2015

And this one is a Clouded Border.  I have seen lots of these in the wild, but this is the first to come to my back garden.  The caterpillars eat Poplars and Willows, and there are not many of those nearby.  The basic colouration and pattern of this moth is always the same, so it is instantly recognisable, but the exact size and position of the brown "clouds" is variable.  This one is nicely balanced.

Clouded Silver, Lomographa temerata.  Hayes, 9 July 2015

The Clouded Silver is also around in this season, and is also variable in detail.   This one was in my garden.  Its caterpillar eats  Hawthorns, Blackthorns and other common shrubs.

There are several other "clouded" moths, and other things too, like the Clouded Agaric, a common woodland mushroom.  But not today.

More Orchids

Flower of a Greater Butterfly-orchid, Plantathera chlorantha.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 11 June 2015.

I heard of a Greater Butterfly Orchid in High Elms Country Park last year, but was unable to find it.  It turns out I was looking in the wrong place, but this year I had better information.  It's not colourful, but many find the delicate white shapes of its flowers delightful.  I think they are fascinating, but they look to me like wide-open vampire's mouths with long tongues.

Greater Butterfly-orchid, Plantathera chlorantha.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 11 June 2015.

(Less so from a distance.)  There seems to be only one specimen in High Elms.  At night, it has a strong scent and is pollinated by large moths.  Those fang-like objects inside the flower are pollinia, clumps of pollen on stalks, and they become attached to the eyes of the moths when they approach for a drink of nectar. 

Fragrant Orchid, Gymnadenia conopsea.  Downe Bank, 11 June 2015.

This Fragrant Orchid is a much more colourful species, but is also pollinated by moths.  Those long, curved nectar tubes are designed for insects with long probiscides.  It has quite a strong floral scent.

Lastly, something unusual:

Variegated Broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine.  Orchid Bank, High Elms Country Park, 11 June 2015.

It's too early for this Broad-leaved Helleborine to be flowering, but it's worth showing because it is naturally variegated, which is scarce.  I saw a normal Broad-leaved Helleborine in the same spot last year and it is possible that this is the same plant, somewhat changed, probably by a virus infection.  Virus infections that produce similar effects are also known among cultivated orchids.

Variegation reduces the viability of plants because they have less of the green chlorophyll that produces the food they need. A virus can also reduce the strength of a plant in other ways, though this one seems to be quite robust. It will be interesting later on to see if the flowers are affected.

Early High Elms

Conservation Field, High Elms, with cowslips, 21 April 2015.

High Elms Country Park looks bare at this time of year because so much has been mown or grazed.  This has mixed results, but it does allow a lot of early flowers to flourish where they might otherwise become overgrown.  This is what they call the Conservation Field, taken with my iPhone, full of cowslips.  This composition isn't great, being pretty much bare in the middle ground, but I wanted to get a cowslip in focus.

Cuckoo Wood with bluebells.  High Elms, 21 April 2015.

Here's a similar shot of a beautiful bluebell wood, also part of High Elms.  The iPhone is limited as a camera, but very good for taking photos that you can then email to someone straight away.  But I also had my proper camera with me.

Common Dog-violet, Viola riviniana.  Burnt Gorse, High Elms, 21 April 2015.

Violets are flourishing just now; in fact some of them are already over or hard to find.  The chalk meadow at Burnt Gorse has Hairy Violets, a chalk-loving species, but when I went on 21st April I could only see hundreds of these Common Dog-violets.  Their distinguishing features are: a light coloured, notched spur behind the petals; pointed sepals; leaf-stalks not noticeably hairy; and large sepal appendages, one of which you can just see here sticking up where the flower stalk joins the flower.  There are four common wild violets, some of which can be hard to tell apart unless you check all these details.

Bee-fly, Bombylius major.  Burnt Gorse, High Elms, 21 April 2015.

This Bee-fly was just interested in whether it had nectar.  It is a fly that looks and acts like a bee, though bees do not have that long sharp-looking snout.  They are a pleasant sight, buzzing about in Spring and hovering by flowers.  This shot shows that the fast-moving wings may be holding it up, but it is also positioning itself and perhaps being steadied by its legs; so it's not a fully committed hoverer like a hoverfly.

Some common flowers are about in the woods.

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

The young leaves of Garlic Mustard are usable as a salad plant.   It's also called Jack-by-the-Hedge, which accurately tells you where else you can find it.

Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

Herb Robert grows all over this area, mostly in woods and hedgerows.  At the back left is a rosette of Wood Avens leaves. They are also very common and will flower later.  In fact, there is some in the previous photo too.

Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

Toothwort only grows near trees, usually Hazels, because it is a complete parasite.  It has no chlorophyll of its own.  It is a very early flowerer and its season is almost over.  This specimen only has a few open flowers left, and most of those I saw were completely finished.

Beauty and the Beasts

Rhodotus palmatus, Wrinkled Peach.  High Elms Country Park, 11 November 2014.

I've been walking in woodlands for a couple of weeks looking for fungi.  In most places they are not abundant, but a few can always be found eventually, sometimes really pretty ones, and in some sites they are everywhere.

This Wrinkled Peach from High Elms is interesting.  It only grows on dead elm trees.  Now, all the mature elms in this area were killed off by Dutch Elm Disease about 40 years ago.  So this dead and fallen trunk must be that old.  I know of two more in this area, and there must be many others I am not aware of.

Rhodotus palmatus, Wrinkled Peach.  High Elms Country Park, 11 November 2014.

This is the underside.  Undersides of fungi are often lovely.  When people, me included, put fungi on line to get, or confirm, an identification we are sometimes told rather testily to get more details.  What are the gills like?  How are they attached?  And, ideally, look at the spores under a microscope.  If not, then at least get a spore print, which will tell you the colour of the spores. 

Rhodotus palmatus, Wrinkled Peach.  Spore print, 12 November 2014.

So here is its spore print.  Pinkish, as you can see, and if I anticipate a light coloured print I try to get it on dark paper; and I had some blue lying around.

Collybia butyracea, Butter Cap, being eaten by fungus gnat larvae (Mycetophilidae)
Hayes Common, 9 November 2014.

But looking at gill attachments can produce some surprises.  This is a different species that I cut down the middle, only to find it was hosting a little group of larvae.  Finding a sudden handful of wriggly things is an everyday hazard when slicing fungi.  Even when they are not obvious, if you leave them out for spore prints and don't sort them out within a day or so, you are likely to find larvae appearing.  So I suggest not doing this in a bedroom.

These are fungus gnat larvae.  You can also find various beetles.

Collybia butyracea, Butter Cap, being eaten by fungus gnat larvae (Mycetophilidae).
Hayes Common, 9 November 2014.

Insects from August

Tachinid Fly, Eriothrix rufomaculata.  High Elms Country Park, Conservation Field, 11 August 2014.

Looking through my photos, I have a few folders to file, and this one has some photos of insects from High Elms in early August.  Flies, with their spiky hairs, look far from cuddly, and I would not want them around on a picnic, but they have their own beauty.

Ground Beetle.  High Elms Country Park, Conservation Field, 11 August 2014.

This is a Ground Beetle, one of the Carabidae, but there are several similar species and I do not know which one this is. 

Hoverfly, Rhingia rostrata.   High Elms Country Park, Conservation Field, 11 August 2014.

Another fly, this time a hoverfly, my favourite group.  That snout is quite distinctive.  There are only two species that have it.

Ichneumon ovipositing on a Knapweed.  High Elms Country Park, Conservation Field, 11 August 2014.

Ichneumon wasps are parasitic.  They typically lay their eggs inside the larva of another species, on which the developing wasp feeds.  I could not see what was inside that Knapweed flowerhead, but it must have been a creature which aimed to feed on the developing seeds, which has been detected by the Ichneumon. 

The large sting-like protrusion to the left is actually the sheath that normally protects the Ichneumon's ovipositor.  The egg-laying tube can be seen pushed inwards, parallel to the petals and amongst them. 

The Ichneumon turned around and probed several times, either to get a good shot at its prey, or to lay into several larvae; I could not tell which.