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How To Identify Fungi.; Tips.
Topic Started: Sep 27 2010, 08:52 PM (1,317 Views)
Davebutterflyman
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As we are coming into the busiest part of the year for fungi photos on the site and the majority of id's are very much dependent on diagnostic points relating to the gills and stems we thought it a good idea to post some tips and field advice on how to take photos and/or look at the gills and stems of fungi.

Judy and myself will start posting information on this thread and please if anyone has any further input then don't hesitate to add it here.
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Deleted User
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To ensure some hope of getting your fungi photos identified it is essential for all but the obvious ones such as Fly Agaric to provide as much detail as possible.

The basic requirementS :-
for fungi with a CAP AND STEM

1 Size - diameter of cap and height of stem. If you are not good at guestimating size and dont carry a ruler a coin placed on or beside the fungus will at least give some point of reference to work from.
2 as well as a photo of the cap it is essential to show the gills and stem. The relationship of the inner end of the gills with the stem is very important in identification - To do this without having to pick the fungus you can carry a small mirror which can be placed strategically under the fungus so that these details can be seen on the single photo of the cap
3. It is extremely helpful if you can take note of where it is growing eg, under pine tree, on soil with moss, in grass, on Birch tree or whatever tree living or dead.

BRACKET FUNGI
1 The size
a. from side to side
b. from back to front
c. Thickness

2 A closeup of the pores or gills on the underside.

3. Identification of what it is growing on or a photo if you dont know.

Some fungi can only be seperated from other similar species by taking a spore print to discover the colour of the spores which can be diagnostic. Others can only be identified by microscopic exam of the spores and the spore bearing basidia.
To take a spore print it is necessary to pick a reasonably mature specimen and to place it Gills or pores down on paper half white and half black for a few hours.
When you lift the cap you will see a pattern of very fine dust on the paper. This is the spores. The black paper is to show up the white or very pale spores. The white paper will show the darker coloured ones depending on which species you have.!
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Davebutterflyman
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Many thanks for all that superb info Judy and i'm sure it will help massively when it comes to identifying fungi :cool2:
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celticsparrow-Jan
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A brilliant thread Dave, thankyou it will be a big help and thanks Judy for all that useful information :cool2:
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NBShaz
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Great thread Dave :cool1:

:thanx: for the valuable tips Judy .. it's so nice to be guided onto the right path as when I do something I do like to do it 'right' if I can .. so from now on I have in my little bag .. camera .. rule .. notebook.. mirror..coin.. oh .. and a copy of the above tips too .. as I am bound to forget something otherwise until I get 'into' it a bit more :lol2:

:thankyou: so much for taking the time to post the above to help us, which in turn will help you both with the ID's .. cos it's a bloomin minefield out there to me :hug:

p.s is there a good fungi book you could recommend cos the little Collins one I have is ...Rubbish!!!!
The fungi all looks alike in it as its just photos and there is no times to see info etc in it .. :thanks: in advance :grin:
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Deleted User
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Thats the problem Shaz, a lot of them do look very similar and it is only by looking closely at gills,and stem etc or even in some cases, microscopic examination of spores that an id can be made.
Glad to hear you are making up a fungi foray kit :grin:
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Night Owl
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:wow: Brilliant info Judy :thankyou: for posting it :cool2:
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Because, unlike flowers, fungi do not wilt and die when picked, it is acceptable to pick one for closer examination and then to replace it the correct way up where it will continue to ripen and shed its spores.
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Davebutterflyman
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Thats very interesting info Judy :cool2:
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Night Owl
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:thanks1: for that info Judy :cool2:
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GreenLarry
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Sparrowhawk
Very good idea!!
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mick2
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Marsh Harrier
oh never knew that about not wilting and dying. thanks for the info.
wheres the best places to look for all the fungi?
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Davebutterflyman
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Hi Mick.

Fungi can be found in many different habitats Mick, woodland, pasture, sand dunes, heathland etc and the type/variety/genus of fungi largely depends on the substrate it grows on (wood, soil, sand etc) and it's mycorrhizal relationship with flora structures. For example, Fly Agaric form a symbiotic relationship with pines and Silver Birch and is often a good place to start looking for that particular fungi (under or in close proximity to the host- Silver Birch tree etc).

This is a useful link.

http://www.nifg.org.uk/ecto.htm

If you can identify the mycorrhizal source then you can narrow down your fungi search options.

It is worth investing in a couple of field guides as well Mick and i recommend these two for starters:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Fungi-Britain-Europe/dp/0711223793/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379266053&sr=1-1&keywords=fungi+of+britain+and+europe

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-Roger-Phillips/dp/0330442376/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379266053&sr=1-10&keywords=fungi+of+britain+and+europe
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mick2
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Marsh Harrier
thats great, cheers dave
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Davebutterflyman
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A pleasure Mick.
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Davebutterflyman
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This is quite a good photo gallery Mick:

http://www.fungiworld.co.uk/browse3.htm
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Night Owl
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Brilliant links Dave :thanks1: for posting them :cool2:
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Davebutterflyman
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This is also another very useful link:

http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/
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