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Spring Foray, 1946
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SPRING FORAY, 1946 WHEATFEN BROAD, NORFOLK
A visit to Wheatfen Broad, Surlingham, Norfolk, from Friday to Monday, 24-27 May 1946, marked the occasion of the first post-war Spring Foray. This visit was made possible by the kindness of Mr E. A. Ellis who, in addition to entertaining a party of members at his home at Wheatfen, placed his workroom and mycological library at the disposal of the visitors and gave unstintingly of his unrivalled knowledge of the locality. The Society is greatly indebted to Mr and Mrs Ellis for all they contributed to the success of the Foray. Wheatfen Broad is an area of some 150 acres of Yare Valley swamp situated about seven miles from Norwich, to the north of Rockland Broad, and bounded on the east by the river Yare and on the slightly higher ground to the south-west by Surlingham Wood. The main estate consists ofa series of 'marshes' intersected by several miles of shallow streams connecting a chain of small broads navigable to a punt. Tidal communication with the Yare is responsible for a regular circulation of water and the normal rise and fall of 8 in. in the water level. The characteristic features of the vegetation are reed swamp, Glyceria marsh, Cladium fen, and sallow-ash carr. This area, which is of great biological interest, and which will it is hoped be permanently preserved, has been studied intensively for the past ten years by a group of naturalists who have published their results in a series of papers in the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society (see Ellis, XIII, 422-51, 1934, for a general account of the vegetation and xv, 191-219, 1941, for a list of micro-fungi by the same author). Most of the twenty-five members and friends attending the Foray found themselves on unfamiliar ground and all found much of interest. The main objective was micro-fungi and the collections made represented more than a hundred species belonging to diverse groups. All the finds have been entered on the card index kept by Mr Ellis with a view to the eventual publication of a critical account of the fungi of Wheatfen so that here it has only been thought necessary to supplement comments on some of the more interesting records with a list of fungi found in association with certain marsh plants. Specimens of most of the finds have been deposited in the herbaria of Mr E. A. Ellis, the Imperial Mycological Institute, or the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Helicosporium phragmitis, which is not included in Wakefield and Bisby's list of British H yphomycetes, was found in abundance on decaying stems of Glyceria maxima. These, according to A. E. Ellis, are its characteristic habitat in the Yare Valley but it has also been recorded on Phragmites, Phalaris arundinacea, and Calamagrostis arundinacea. Clasterosporium canicinum on Carex attracted attention, for this fungus (originally described by Schweinitz in North America) appears to have been recorded for Europe only from
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Norfolk. Among other Hyphomycetes, Myrothecium inundatum Fr. on an old sporophore of Russula adusta and Pachybasium hamatum (Bon.) Sacco found growing with Rhytisma acerinum on sycamore leaves may be mentioned, while Prof. C. T. Ingold listed seven aquatic species on dead leaves in the tidal ditches. The resemblance of Mitrula sclerotipus growing from sclerotia on blackened remains of meadowsweet leaves to species placed in _Verpatina Whetzel & Drayton, was noted and Pachydiscia marchantiae (Berk.) Boud. was found on the liverwort Conocephalum. The most noteworthy rust recorded was Puccinia persistens Plowr., forming abundant aecia on Thalictrum flavum. Larger basidiomycetes were infrequent but Miss Wakefield added six species of Corticium, including C. niveocremeum and C. roseocremeum, and nine of Peniophora, including P. candida Lyman (syn. P. aegerita) with the Aegerita stage, P. leprosa, and P. pubera to the list. There have been many records of entomogenous fungi from Wheatfen. During the Foray Gibellula aranearum (Schwein.) Syd. on spiders and Isaria farinosa (Holmsk.) Fr. on moth pupae were found. Acknowledgement must be made to Mr M. B. Ellis, Dr R. W. G. Dennis, Mr S. J. Hughes, and Mr E. W. Mason for making critical determinations. LIST OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN MARSH PLANTS AT WHEATFEN BROAD
Caltha palustris. Ramularia calthae (Erikss.) Lindr. Carex. Marasmius menieri (on C. riparia), Arthrinium sporophlaeum Fr., Clasterosporium caricinum Schw., Gonatosporium puccinioides (Fr.) Corda, Volutella melaloma Berk. & Br. Cladium mariscus. Pistillaria aculeata, Tetraploa aristata Berk. & Br. Equisetum palustre. Stamnaria persooni (Fr.) Fuckel. Filipendula ulmaria. Mitrula sclerotipus Boud. Galium aparine. Peronospora calotheca de Bary. Glyceria maxima. Gibberella zeae (Schw.) Petch, Coprinus (? urticaecola), Dematium hispidulum Fr., Helicosporium phragmitis Hohnel, Myosotis. Synchytrium aureum Schroet., Erysiphe cichoracearum DC. Myrica gale. Ovularia destructiva (Phill. & Plowr.) Massee. Peucedanum palustre. Plasmopara nivea (Dng.) Schroet. (also on Aegopodium and Angelica). Phragmites communis. Dasyclypha controversa (Cooke) Rehm, Pyrenopeziza arundinacea (DC.) Boud., Lophodermium arundinaceum (Fr.) Chev., Napicladium arundinaceum (Corda) Sacco Poa trivialis. Passalora graminis (Fuckel) Hohnel, Salix. Bertia moriformis (Fr.) de Not., Calyculosphaeria tristis (Fuckel) Fitzpat., Chaetosphaeria phaeostroma (Dur. & Mont.) Fuckel, Diaporthe eres Nits., Eutypa flavovirens (Fr.) Tul., Gloniopsis levantica Rehm, Hypoxylon rubiginosum (Fr.) Fr., Lophiostoma salicum (Fabr.) Sacc., Nitschkia cupularis (Fr.) Karst., Rosellinia aquila (Fr.) de Not., Pholiota erinacea (Fr.) Quel., Coniothecium amentacearum Corda.
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SPRING FORAY, 1946 WHEATFEN BROAD, NORFOLK
A visit to Wheatfen Broad, Surlingham, Norfolk, from Friday to Monday, 24-27 May 1946, marked the occasion of the first post-war Spring Foray. This visit was made possible by the kindness of Mr E. A. Ellis who, in addition to entertaining a party of members at his home at Wheatfen, placed his workroom and mycological library at the disposal of the visitors and gave unstintingly of his unrivalled knowledge of the locality. The Society is greatly indebted to Mr and Mrs Ellis for all they contributed to the success of the Foray. Wheatfen Broad is an area of some 150 acres of Yare Valley swamp situated about seven miles from Norwich, to the north of Rockland Broad, and bounded on the east by the river Yare and on the slightly higher ground to the south-west by Surlingham Wood. The main estate consists ofa series of 'marshes' intersected by several miles of shallow streams connecting a chain of small broads navigable to a punt. Tidal communication with the Yare is responsible for a regular circulation of water and the normal rise and fall of 8 in. in the water level. The characteristic features of the vegetation are reed swamp, Glyceria marsh, Cladium fen, and sallow-ash carr. This area, which is of great biological interest, and which will it is hoped be permanently preserved, has been studied intensively for the past ten years by a group of naturalists who have published their results in a series of papers in the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society (see Ellis, XIII, 422-51, 1934, for a general account of the vegetation and xv, 191-219, 1941, for a list of micro-fungi by the same author). Most of the twenty-five members and friends attending the Foray found themselves on unfamiliar ground and all found much of interest. The main objective was micro-fungi and the collections made represented more than a hundred species belonging to diverse groups. All the finds have been entered on the card index kept by Mr Ellis with a view to the eventual publication of a critical account of the fungi of Wheatfen so that here it has only been thought necessary to supplement comments on some of the more interesting records with a list of fungi found in association with certain marsh plants. Specimens of most of the finds have been deposited in the herbaria of Mr E. A. Ellis, the Imperial Mycological Institute, or the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Helicosporium phragmitis, which is not included in Wakefield and Bisby's list of British H yphomycetes, was found in abundance on decaying stems of Glyceria maxima. These, according to A. E. Ellis, are its characteristic habitat in the Yare Valley but it has also been recorded on Phragmites, Phalaris arundinacea, and Calamagrostis arundinacea. Clasterosporium canicinum on Carex attracted attention, for this fungus (originally described by Schweinitz in North America) appears to have been recorded for Europe only from
Spring Foray, 1946
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Norfolk. Among other Hyphomycetes, Myrothecium inundatum Fr. on an old sporophore of Russula adusta and Pachybasium hamatum (Bon.) Sacco found growing with Rhytisma acerinum on sycamore leaves may be mentioned, while Prof. C. T. Ingold listed seven aquatic species on dead leaves in the tidal ditches. The resemblance of Mitrula sclerotipus growing from sclerotia on blackened remains of meadowsweet leaves to species placed in _Verpatina Whetzel & Drayton, was noted and Pachydiscia marchantiae (Berk.) Boud. was found on the liverwort Conocephalum. The most noteworthy rust recorded was Puccinia persistens Plowr., forming abundant aecia on Thalictrum flavum. Larger basidiomycetes were infrequent but Miss Wakefield added six species of Corticium, including C. niveocremeum and C. roseocremeum, and nine of Peniophora, including P. candida Lyman (syn. P. aegerita) with the Aegerita stage, P. leprosa, and P. pubera to the list. There have been many records of entomogenous fungi from Wheatfen. During the Foray Gibellula aranearum (Schwein.) Syd. on spiders and Isaria farinosa (Holmsk.) Fr. on moth pupae were found. Acknowledgement must be made to Mr M. B. Ellis, Dr R. W. G. Dennis, Mr S. J. Hughes, and Mr E. W. Mason for making critical determinations. LIST OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN MARSH PLANTS AT WHEATFEN BROAD
Caltha palustris. Ramularia calthae (Erikss.) Lindr. Carex. Marasmius menieri (on C. riparia), Arthrinium sporophlaeum Fr., Clasterosporium caricinum Schw., Gonatosporium puccinioides (Fr.) Corda, Volutella melaloma Berk. & Br. Cladium mariscus. Pistillaria aculeata, Tetraploa aristata Berk. & Br. Equisetum palustre. Stamnaria persooni (Fr.) Fuckel. Filipendula ulmaria. Mitrula sclerotipus Boud. Galium aparine. Peronospora calotheca de Bary. Glyceria maxima. Gibberella zeae (Schw.) Petch, Coprinus (? urticaecola), Dematium hispidulum Fr., Helicosporium phragmitis Hohnel, Myosotis. Synchytrium aureum Schroet., Erysiphe cichoracearum DC. Myrica gale. Ovularia destructiva (Phill. & Plowr.) Massee. Peucedanum palustre. Plasmopara nivea (Dng.) Schroet. (also on Aegopodium and Angelica). Phragmites communis. Dasyclypha controversa (Cooke) Rehm, Pyrenopeziza arundinacea (DC.) Boud., Lophodermium arundinaceum (Fr.) Chev., Napicladium arundinaceum (Corda) Sacco Poa trivialis. Passalora graminis (Fuckel) Hohnel, Salix. Bertia moriformis (Fr.) de Not., Calyculosphaeria tristis (Fuckel) Fitzpat., Chaetosphaeria phaeostroma (Dur. & Mont.) Fuckel, Diaporthe eres Nits., Eutypa flavovirens (Fr.) Tul., Gloniopsis levantica Rehm, Hypoxylon rubiginosum (Fr.) Fr., Lophiostoma salicum (Fabr.) Sacc., Nitschkia cupularis (Fr.) Karst., Rosellinia aquila (Fr.) de Not., Pholiota erinacea (Fr.) Quel., Coniothecium amentacearum Corda.