White Crust Fungus

A white porecrust fungus, probably Schizopora paradoxa, growing on a dead branch of an oak tree (Quercus sp).  The above section was on the side of the branch and shows the pores side-on, while the following section was on the underside and shows the pores end-on:

This is the spores at x600 under the microscope (prepared in the way given here):

The width of the image at x600 is about 86um (determined by photographing a millimetre ruler at x60) so the spores are about 6 x 3um which is consistent with the '4–6 x 3–3.5um' given at Roger's Mushrooms.

The hyphae show clamp connections, see one at the top left of the following image (x600):

First two photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-18.

Slime Mould

A slime mould with pale pink cylindrical sporangia on stalks, probably Stemonitopsis typhina (=Comatrichia typhoides).  The sporangia of this species start out as white but rapidly (within only a day or two) turn pink, then brown and black. For some of the same species that I saw last year, see  here.

This is what the spores looked like at x600 under the microscope:

First photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-05-11.

Fungus

Dead moll's fingers fungus, Xylaria longipes.  The one on the right has been nibbled, probably by a mouse or a squirrel (would a slug climb all the way to the top before starting to nibble?).

I prepared a microscope slide of the spores using the method given here and this is the result (at x600):

These spores are roughly 1.5 times the length of the spores of Peniophora quercina shown here.  This, and the shape shown above, is consistent with the description given for X .longipes which includes 'Spores 13-15 x 5-7 um; smooth; fusiform' (fusiform = spindle-shaped, ie: pointed at both ends).

At first I assumed this fungus to be Xylaria polymorpha but that has 20-31 x 5-10um spores, which would be 2 to 3 times as long as those of P. quercina.  This is clearly not the case with the spores in the above image.

First photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-15.

Moth

From back in August: tortrix moth Pandemis corylana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).  A bit over-exposed.

Photo taken Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-08-18.

Bracket Fungus

What it think is blushing bracket fungus, Daedaleopsis confragosa, growing on a dead branch of a willow tree (Salix sp). 

The underside looks like this:

And the spores (prepared by the method given here) look like this at x600:

These spores are smaller and thinner than those of Peniophora quercina, which is roughly consistent with the 'cylindric 8–11 x 2–3um' given here.

The first photo and the specimen were take in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-15.