A beautiful day at Braddocks Trail Park, sunny and pleasantly warm. About 15 people joined walk leader Richard Jacob for a tour through the park. For many this was the first club walk that they had attended. After a quick rundown of what we might find in the walk we set of on a trial from the car park. Not 10 yards in 4 morels were found! Sadly we didn’t find any more with the main group. A good variety of other spring mushrooms were found along with a few left overs from last year.

One of the more unusual finds of the day was the Tree Slime fungus Fusicolla merismoides. growing on sap oozing out of a grape vine. The slime is a actually a mixture of fungi and bacteria that are naturally found on plant leaves or in the soil. The Latin name for the slime is for one of the more common constituents, Fusicolla merismoides. Analysis of different specimens show the exact mix of species can vary. None of the species found in the mixtures are known for harming the host plant rather they are just taking advantage of a a nutritious food sauce while the conditions are right.

Species list identified and entered by Richard Jacob.
List of species found on the walk at Braddocks Trail Park:
Allodus podophylli (Mayapple Rust),
Cerioporus squamosus (Dryad’s Saddle, Pheasant Polypore),
Cerrena unicolor (Mossy Maze Polypore),
Daldinia childiae (Carbon Balls),
Exidia glandulosa (Beech jelly roll),
Fusicolla merismoides (Tree slime flux),
Galerina marginata (Deadly galerina),
Gymnopus dryophilus (Oak-loving Collybia),
Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the woods),
Morchella americana (Yellow Morel),
Morchella diminutiva (Tulip Morel),
Morchella punctipes (Half-free Morel),
Mycena haematopus (Bleeding Mycena),
Mycena inclinata (Clustered bonnet / oak-stump bonnet cap),
Neofavolus alveolaris (Hexagonal-pored Polypore),
Phylloscypha phyllogena (Common Brown Cup),
Phellinus robiniae (Cracked cap polypore, Locust polypore),
Pluteus cervinus (Deer mushroom),
Polyporus arcularius (Spring Polypore),
Polyporus badius (Black-footed Polypore),
Schizophyllum commune (Split Gill),
Stereum complicatum (Crowded Parchment),
Trametes gibbosa (Lumpy bracket),
Trametes versicolor (Turkey-tail),
Trichaptum biforme (Violet Toothed-Polypore)
Species not currently on clubs life list or not fully identified:
Entoloma species
Tubaria species
hypoxon