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Park Farm Orchard - the community orchard (Jo Weightman commented)
As would be expected most of the fungi seen were Basidiomycetes, having spores which fall into the air rather than being forcibly ejected from the fungus. Two of these, the Ganoderma and the Laetiporus are parasitic fungi, although in this instance they were fruiting on the dead stumps of trees they may previously have killed. The two powdery mildews recorded are also parasitic species, occurring on living leaves. All the rest were saprophytes, ie feeding on the already dead substrate of tree stump, fallen branch or rotting plant material.
Interest was centered on the dead wood lying on the ground and the orchard management is to be congratulated on its policy of keeping this material on site. Fallen wood species included brackets, crusts and gilled fungi (agarics), the latter ranging from white to pink to black-spored examples. Grassland fungi were few in the prevailing drought conditions but it was interesting to see Clavaria vermicularis, a species of unimproved grassland, which may indicate the presence of a range of grassland species present but not fruiting on the day.
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