Scarlet Elf Cup - Sarcoscypha Austriaca

This week's fungus is the beautiful and delicate scarlet elf cup, it's a real delight to find in the depths of winter. It's the fungus of faeries and folklore, used in ancient medicine for its healing properties. We'll have look at how, where and when to find this winter beauty.

Scarlet elf cup looks exactly as it sounds, a deep hollow bowl shape from which elves can drink morning dew or faeries can bathe. The inner surface of the bowl is deep red and the outer surface is orange. It has a close relative called the ruby elf cup fungus which is very similar, perhaps a little darker in colour. The red surface is where the spores are released from. Scarlet elf cup is an 'ascomycota' fungus which means it actively shoots its spores into the air. You can see this happening on a YouTube video here

Scarlet elf cups offer one of the best opportunities to observe this spore explosion: by blowing on them (ideally in March or April) you can trigger them to shoot clouds of spores which can be seen with the naked eye. This is not the movement of your breath raising a cloud, but the slight change in temperature that it brings triggering many thousands of spores into being expelled from the inner surface of the cup by a pump action. I'm looking forward to giving this a go in spring time, it also helps disperse the spores to enable more scarlet elf cup to grow.

We've talked about 'decomposer fungus' or saprophytes which eat dead wood and recycle it into nutrients which are released back into the earth to support new plant life. Scarlet elf cup is a saprophyte which lives on dead branches of deciduous trees such as hazel or sycamore which are decaying and normally covered in moss. It likes to grow in damp places, especially on the forest floor where it can attach itself to leaf litter or nestle into rotting mossy branches. You'll find it in shady, damp ditches and near river beds. Scarlet elf cup is found all over the UK, more often in areas with high rainfall, making Scotland a perfect home for it.

Many foragers use this fungus as it presents beautifully on the plate. Some say the fungus is inedible whilst others say it has an 'earthy' taste with a hint of beetroot! We encourage you to leave the elf cups where you see them, in their natural environment, doing their job for everyone to admire.

Until next week,

Happy fungi finding,

W.I.L.D.

The Winter Mushroom – Velvet Shank

Well we are having quite the proper winter season this year! With consistently low temperatures, beautiful crisp days and a good few fabulous falls of snow. It makes me think about how the plants and wildlife must have to strive to survive at this time of year. Did you know there is one mushroom in particular that these cold temperatures are actually essential for its survival. Look out this week for the stunning Velvet Shank also known as The Winter Mushroom!

The Velvet Shank’s scientific name is Flammulina velutipes, which reflects its bright orange ‘flame’ like cap and ‘velvet’ stem. It has been used throughout history for researching medicine and for cooking. It’s a good one to look out for just now as it fruits from Autumn through winter into Spring. It needs the cold temperatures to stimulate it fruiting. It is a pretty incredible fungi as it can withstand ice and snow and survive being frozen completely solid! The cold is an essential triggering element in the continuation of it’s life cycle!

Saprophytic Fungi

The Velvet Shank is a Saprophytic fungi meaning its role is breaking down and recycling the dead organic matter the it lives on. Which is the same as the Jelly Ear fungi Gill looked at last week. You are likely to see it on dead or decaying broadleaf tree’s like Elm, Ash, Beech or Oak. Look out for it on tree stumps, or standing or lying down deadwood trees.

You can check out our earlier blog to find out all about the huge importance of deadwood trees in a woodland too here.

Velvet Shank particularly favours Elms and as we have quite a few of these on one of our forest school sites I went down to have a look there and sure enough here is the beautiful blaze of flaming golden colour I was greeted with. Make sure to look all around the tree/stump as there may be more fungi to see for example here I found some way up high in the tree too!

Identification

Using your detective skills look for the identification traits below to find it.

Firstly the scientific name helps us to identify it.

· Flammulina ‘little flame’ in reference to it’s orange/brown cap which is shiny and becomes slimy after rain.

· And Velutipes meaning ‘ with velvet legs’! It's most striking identification trait is this, its shank or stem is smooth and velvety to the touch!

· The stem is a rich reddish brown colour – darkest at the base.

· It’s gills are widely spaced, and are white turning creamy yellow when mature.

· It’s seen in packed tiered clusters on decaying wood of broadleaf trees especially Elm.

· There is no ring on the stem unlike it’s lookalikes.

Check out our video introduction to the Velvet Shank & Winter habitats here:

This fungi is safe for most of us to touch, but has lookalikies which are not so friendly. Thankfully they are not likely to be around in the winter, but due to this I am always very respectful of fungi. Remembering to wash my hands well when I get home after touching them. (We are experts at this anyway these days!). I don’t damage or have any need to remove the fungi, especially as it has such an important decomposing job to do in the woodland.

Other winter habitats are all around us!

If you are out having a look for fungi this week be sure to have a good look all around where you are for other signs of life too as there will be plenty to see. There are only 3 native mammals that truly hibernate in the United Kingdom, Hedgehogs, Bats and Dormice. So everything else is still around, and striving to survive in this cold wintery weather.

It’s amazing what can be discovered if you get a chance to look. From tiny micro-habitats like fungi/lichen/invertebrates on twigs like this Witches Butter Fungus or Yellow Brain!

Also try looking out for wildlife feeding signs. This week I found dozens of snails shells discarded after something had had a grand meal of them! (photo below).

We also found wonderful habitat holes in moss and on the ground perhaps made by mice or voles. You might spot bigger burrows of larger mammals or might even be lucky enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of a deer or fox!

If we do get frost or snow it’s a great opportunity to look out for animal tracks. We saw these very clear bird foot prints in snow last week. Also mud is great to look at for animal tracks too and of course for making your own prints in!

I love starting to build up the story of the life going on in a woodland, local park or this could even be in your garden. It’s wonderful to take the opportunity to get to know your local greenspace!

Take care all! We’ll look forward to hearing all about what you’ve seen this week.

W.I.L.D.

#lovethenatureonyourdoorstep

#forestschoolrocks

#nature

Jelly Ear Fungus

This week's Friday Fungi is the jelly or wood ear fungus. It can be found most commonly on dead elder trees and grows across Britain, Ireland, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

This wobbly, gelatinous fungus has a velvety outer layer which feels soft to the touch. It's obvious how it come upon its name as is likeness to a human ear is a little spooky. Jelly ear fungus is safe to touch and is eaten in China where it's added to hot and sour soups. I've never tried eating jelly ear and suggest it's best left on the tree where it has an important job to do...

Here's a video of some Jelly Ear growing near the White Cart.

Jelly ear is a bracket fungus which means it grows out of a tree trunk or branch like a bracket. It belongs to a group of fungus called 'decomposers' or 'saprotrophs'. These fungi can't photosynthesize like trees and plants do to get food which means they need to find food elsewhere. They feed from the organisms they live on, the dead Elder tree. Using potent enzymes the jelly ear breaks down the wood (lignin) and recycles it, depositing nutrients into the soil. Decomposers eventually convert all organic matter (dead wood) into carbon dioxide and nutrients. This releases raw nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium) in a form usable to plants and algae. This process resupplies nutrients to the ecosystem. Fungi also use the nutrients for their own growth and repair. How amazing is the jelly ear? :)

Happy fungus finding

Take care,

W.I.L.D.

There's lots of information out there if you want to find out more.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/jelly-ear/