Turkeytail

Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor)

Spring is finally arriving in our chilly corner of England, and I've been out in the garden for the past few weeks, looking for new species to photograph. The other day, I found this lovely little bracket fungus growing on the stump of a shrub Mike removed last year. It's known as Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor), due to its strong resemblance to a real Wild Turkey's tail. Those concentric rings of colour come in many shades – brown, black, green, purple, grey or yellow – always with a pale outer margin. It's a very common fungus, widespread across the UK and throughout much of the rest of the world, growing on dead wood. Often, there are many tiers stacked up together; ours is a bit on the small side, with only two little caps. They can be seen every month of the year, though they tend to be most colourful (and thus most noticeable) in the autumn. In the past, these pretty little brackets were used as table and hat decorations. A compound extracted from the fungus is used in Japan in the treatment of some forms of cancer, and the fungus itself has been used in traditional medicines in both Japan and China for centuries.

Sulphury

Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare)

Our dead whitebeam stump wears a spectacular golden cape this autumn – a mass of Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) mushrooms which spill down its side and extend out along its roots. At first, they had the rounded tops of the tiny one in the foreground but they soon flattened out, though often retaining a little raised bump in the centre. They're smooth on top, typically yellowish on the edges and darker orangey-tan in the middle. Their stalk (called the stipe by those who study fungi) is also two-toned: yellow near the cap and darker at the base. The gills, which are the thin ribs located on the underside the cap, are attached to the stipe, an arrangement which can be an important ID feature. The gills start yellowish-green, like those in the photo above, and go darker with age.

Sulphur Tufts are very common and widespread in the UK, and across much of Europe and North America as well. They attack the dead, decaying wood of both coniferous and deciduous trees, like that of our poor whitebeam, which succumbed to a windstorm several years ago. Rumour has it that they taste bitter. Given that consumption causes serious gastrointestinal issues, I don't think I'll be checking that out in person!

Spots

Violet Bramble Rust (Phragmidium violaceum)

Now that many of the leaves have fallen from bushes, trees and vines around the garden, the ones that are left are more obvious — particularly when they're sporting some striking colours. And the eye-catching purplish spots that decorate some of the leaves on our bramble bushes are certainly showing well now. These are signs of Violet Bramble Rust (Phragmidium violaceum), a fairly common and widespread fungus in the UK. It attacks the leaves, sapping the plant of some of its vigour, but generally without actually killing it. That said, the fungus has been "weaponised" as a biological agent to control introduced European blackberry plants in places where they've become invasive. (Unfortunately, in some of those areas, the fungus has also attacked native blackberry relatives.) In the UK, it's most readily seen from late summer through autumn. If it manages to knock back some of the ubiquitous bramble seedlings in our garden, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing!

Inky

Common Inkcap (Coprinopsis atramentaria)

A couple of weeks ago, several rings of these distinctive mushrooms popped up near a dead stump in the back corner of the garden. They're Common Inkcaps (Coprinopsis atramentaria), so named for the inky liquid that drips from their edges. They start egg-shaped, then split and flatten out as they age, reaching up to 7 cm (just under 3 inches) across at maturity. Their dark gills slowly digest themselves, forming a drippy, liquid mass of spores. In the past, that inky exudate was used for drafting important documents; microscopic examination revealed the spores that proved the validity of the document, showing that it had not been forged. Though edible, these mushrooms have a potentially fatal result if combined with alcohol. Effects vary from nausea, shortness of breath, hot flashes and tingling of the limbs to heart attack — and these can occur for up to three days after consumption. Probably best to avoid chomping on any unless you're a teetotaler; there's a reason they're also known as "Tippler's Bane"! Common and widespread across Britain, they're found in gardens, pastures and parks from spring to autumn. Judging by the number of insects attracted to these mushrooms, and the number of nibbles taken out of them, plenty of our garden residents find them irresistible.

Rusty thistles

Thistle Rust (Puccinia punctiformis)

When it comes to our ongoing battle with thistles — and our attempts to control them — we may have a new ally. While wandering around the garden recently, I noticed a Creeping Thistle plant that was looking a bit peaked — pale compared to its neighbours, but showing some dark rusty-red patches as well. A closer look showed it to be heavily infected with Thistle Rust (Puccinia punctiformis), a fungus that is specific to Creeping Thistle. So far, it's only the single plant that has been impacted; the nearby thistle plants all appear to be healthy. However, that may not remain the case. Thistle Rust is now found around the world and is widely used in some places as a biological control agent. Its spores spread on the wind, and either infect new shoots or enter a plant through its roots. Some species of weevil may also spread the spores while feeding. The rust affects the plant's ability to both photosynthise and reproduce, and can eventually kill it. Our bare toes aren't sorry to hear that!

This whole plant is affected

Rust

Alexanders Rust (Puccinia smyrnii)

In 1872, mathematician Augustus de Morgan wrote, in his poem "Siphonaptera":

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,  

And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.

And so it is with plants too; even our robust Alexanders plants don't escape. Many carry patches of the fungus Alexanders Rust (Puccinia smyrnii), a species found only on Alexanders. This rust, which can vary from yellow to bright orange in colour, attacks both the upper and lower surfaces of leaves, as well as the plant's stem, creating large pustules and extensive swelling. As it's specific to Alexanders, it's restricted to those parts of Britain (plus Europe and North Africa) where the plant occurs. In the UK, that means it's most prevalent along the coasts of England and Wales, though it's spreading inland along with its host plant.

Tar Spots

Now that we've reached late autumn, many of the leaves on our trees have dropped off and are scattered across the lawns. This makes the distinctive "tar spots" of Rhytisma acerinum a whole lot easier to spot. The fungus is common on maples and sycamores across Europe; a very similar and closely-related species occurs in North America. Fortunately for the infected trees, the fungus is a cosmetic problem which impacts only the leaves and seldom harms the tree itself. Next spring, when the weather warms up again, sticky spores released from these "tar spots" will travel on the wind and infect new leaves. While it doesn't generally harm trees or humans, the fungus isn't entirely benign. It has been associated with "equine atypical myopathy" and can cause death in horses if they consume too many infected leaves.

Scabby Apples

Among the trees in the garden are an ornamental crab apple (a hybrid cultivar called John Downie) and a regular apple. The latter is a small tree, gnarled and twisted by exposure to the strong, salty winds that regularly blast in off the North Sea, its branches flung southeastwards like arms thrown leewards in despair. For such a small tree, it yearly bears a bountiful harvest of huge apples — all blighted by the rusty brown splotches of Apple Scab (Venturia inaequalis). This is a very common fungal disease of crab apples, and it often spreads to other nearby members of the rose family. (Both apples and crab apples are members of that family.) Unfortunately, we have plenty of rose family species in the garden that might be affected: cotoneasters, hawthorns, and whitebeams among them.

Apple Scab is a worldwide problem now, transported around the globe by trade in apples and ornamental crab apples. It is a serious issue for commercial apple growers, but — other than a bit of unsightliness — isn't really a problem in gardens like ours. The infection rarely kills the tree, though it does pepper the leaves and fruits with blistered brown spots. Treatment typically includes spraying fungicides and clearing the infected fruits and leaves off the ground under the trees, and we'd rather have the many lichens and insects that would be impacted if we were to do so!