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During the past two years I have had thedistinct honour of carrying out base linesurveys of larger fungi at a selection of

the Royal Parks. These sites included RichmondPark, Bushy Park and Kensington Gardens. Allthree sites, former deer parks, fall within GreaterLondon. The Richmond and Bushy Park surveyswere carried out from April to December whilstthe Kensington Gardens survey ran from Augustto December.

This is the first of three articles aimed athighlighting some of the more interesting speciesfound during the surveys. These will cover fungifrom dead wood, soil/leaf litter saprotrophs andmycorrhizal species. Before looking at some of thefungi, I think it important to give a description ofeach site.

At 995 hectares, Richmond Park SSSI is by farthe largest park close to London. It was firstenclosed as a deer park in 1637. It sits between 8and 56 m above sea level and is a habitat complexcomprising areas of open woodland within amatrix of grazed grassland/heathland, listed inthe National Biodiversity Action Plan as lowlandwood pastures and parkland. Soils are essentiallyacidic, ranging from poorly drained clay-loam, togravelly, free-draining, sandier soils.

At 450 hectares Bushy Park is the secondlargest Royal Park within the Greater LondonArea. The part that includes the current bound-aries of Bushy was enclosed as a deer park in1491. It lies in outer southwest London in theLondon Borough of Richmond, within a loop ofthe River Thames. It sits on flat, low-lyingground of the Thames floodplain, varying inaltitude from 10 m in the South to 15 m in theNorth West corner. Bushy Park shares the samehistoric use as a deer park, with similar areas ofopen woodland within lightly deer-grazed grass-land. The deer are far less numerous than inRichmond Park and as a result far less grazing

occurs. As with Richmond, oak is the dominanttree, although the park has lost the majority ofits veteran trees over the decades.

The 98 hectares of Kensington Gardens incentral London straddle the boroughs of the Cityof Westminster and The Royal Borough ofKensington and Chelsea. This is a very cosmopol-itan green space differing from both Richmondand Bushy. The land was enclosed as a deer parkin 1536 but includes a principal royal residenceand became a designed landscape. KensingtonGardens shares its origins with Hyde Park and issituated in part of a shallow valley formed by theWestbourne River at heights between 16 and 29metres above sea level. Soils are generally freedraining, mildly acidic, brown earths of a sandyloam texture. These overlie river terrace gravels.

Standing and Fallen Dead WoodStanding and fallen dead wood is an essentialhabitat for a succession of wood-rotting fungi.Dead wood is plentiful in Richmond Park and itsassociated invertebrate assemblage is interna-tionally renowned. It is not as plentiful in BushyPark and even less so in Kensington Gardens. Aselection follows of the more interesting species ofwood-inhabiting fungi found in the parks.

Piptoporus quercinus – Richmond Park - Fig. 1Richmond Park has the distinction of being one ofa limited number of sites in England that is hostto the UK BAP listed Piptoporus quercinus,which fruits on a selection of the older andveteran oak trees within the park (for previousarticles on this species see FM 2(3): 88–89, 2001;FM 5(2): 43–44, 2004 and FM 7(4): 143–144,2006). This species is known to be a sporadicfruiter, with sometimes long gaps between fruit-ing periods. It fruits mainly during July but canstretch into August. We were very lucky duringthe summer of 2008 when an additional 13 host

FUNGI ROYALESome interesting larger fungi of the Royal Parks - Part 1

Andy Overall*

*Flat 2, 39 Northend Road, Golders Green, London NW11 7RJ

doi:10.1016/j.fl dmyc.2010.07.007

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trees were recorded with this species during thesurvey, raising the total of previously recordedsites made by Peter Roberts, Shelley Evans andAlick Henrici during the summer of 2001 to 23.This species is protected under Schedule 8 of theWildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which isenforced by Natural England meaning that alicence must be obtained before any collectionsare made.

Spongipellis delectans – Richmond Park - Fig.2Recorded from only six counties in southernEngland, including Surrey, this is the first recordfrom Surrey in 11 years; in total there arecurrently only 19 records from this county. It wasfound on a fallen, dead horse chestnut tree in lateNovember and has also been recorded on ash,sycamore and beech. Once again this highlightsthe value of leaving dead wood in situ. Thisrelatively soft-fleshed species has irpicoid (maze-like to tooth-like) tubes on the underside, whichcan help with identification in the field. Theupper surface was irregular, hirsute and pittedas if eaten away. It measured 40 to 90 mm across,with tubes up to 15 mm long and flesh 5 to 12 mmthick. Spores were ellipsoid, hyaline and notparticularly thick-walled, measuring 6.9–7.7 x4.6–5.3 µm.

Coriolopsis gallica – Richmond Park - Fig. 3This used to be a rare dead wood specialist buthas become much commoner in southernEngland in recent years. It was recorded from a

heap of dead beech wood; some decorticated,some not, and from a nearby ash tree, just west ofthe Prince Charles Spinney.

The brown, suede-like appearance, with atough, minutely hirsute upper surface, is a goodfield characteristic for this species. The uppersurface will turn almost black with a solution ofKOH. The flesh is 5-15mm thick and dark brownin contrast to the pale tubes. The pores arerounded to angular, cream-grey and darkensomewhat upon handling. These specimens were46 to 120 mm across with several fusing together.Spores are large and allantoid (sausage shaped),measuring 8.4-13.8 x 3.0-4.2 µm. I found thiscollection to have a fudge-like smell but smellscan be rather subjective.

Gloeoporus dichrous – Richmond Park - Fig. 4This species was recorded from four differentareas of Richmond Park, all from small deadbranches of oak. It appears to be spreadingrapidly in the UK (see Ainsworth, 2004 andHenrici, 2007) and no longer qualifies for NearThreatened status. It is characterized by havinga two-toned appearance and gelatinised porelayer. The fruit bodies are often fused togetherand either pileate or resupinate, often with avariable, cottony margin. Spores are small, allan-toid, hyaline and thin-walled, measuring 3.5–5 x0.8–1.4 µm.

Phellinus torulosus – Bushy Park - Fig. 5It is not surprising that I found myself a littleconfused when confronted with this species, asthe British Isles are considered to be its north-ern-most limit. This is most obviously reflected inits current status as an endangered red data listspecies with just 24 records currently held in theFRDBI. None of these are from Middlesex so thiswill stand as a first for the county. It is consid-ered common and widespread in theMediterranean region; I have seen it in Cyprus.The Cyprus specimen did not resemble thiscollection in the slightest, appearing muchthicker fleshed, with a more pronounced obtusemargin and with the surface covered in moss.

It has been recorded on a surprisingly widerange of hosts; here it was fruiting at the base ofold hawthorn trees (Crataegus). The pale to rustybrown fruitbodies are often single or fusedtogether, as shown in the picture and canmeasure up to 45 cm or more across and 28 cm

Fig. 1. Piptoporus quercinus, growing on an ancientoak in Richmond Park, summer 2008. Photograph ©Andy Overall.

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deep with an obtuse margin. The upper surface,often moss covered, can have a velvety look to itfrom short, tough, matted hairs that eventuallybecome smooth and blackened in patches. Thesetae (hairs) found in the hymenium are infre-quent. Successive layers of context in the cutflesh are sometimes separated by fine black linesand the whole context will blacken in KOH.These specimens were rather thin-fleshed for abracket fungus of this size, as the context can beup to 11cm thick; this was probably becausethese were rather old and dry. The under side isyellowish to reddish brown with 6–7 round poresper mm. Spores are ovoid-ellipsoid, smooth,negative in Melzer’s reagent and measuring 4–6x 3–4 µm. I have to thank Martyn Ainsworth foridentifying this collection.

Further findsTwo other interesting species, both on poplar

are briefly noted. The uncommon Schizophyllumamplum, which resembles a small, paleAuricularia auricula-judae (Tree Ear), wasrecorded from dead fallen twigs and smallbranches of Populus alba along the southernboundary of Richmond Park. It was formerlyplaced in its own genus Auriculariopsis.Ossicaulis lignatilis was recorded from rottensections of Populus nigra, found along theeastern boundary. This is an uncommon butwidespread species that is more often foundinside large hollow stumps of beech or elm. It is arather unusual species, looking very much likespecies of Clitocybe, which grow on soil andwithin which it was once included. It often has astrong flour-like odour but this can vary. Thefruitbodies are between 20 and 120 mm across,white to cream and hygrophanous. The stem is

Fig. 2. Spongipellis delectans, growing on a fallen, dead horse chestnut, late November 2008. Photograph ©Andy Overall.

Fig. 3. Coriolopsis gallica, growing on dead, decorticated beech wood, Richmond Park, 2008. Photograph ©Andy Overall.

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tough, central or eccentric and often buried in thewoody substrate. Spores are white, ellipsoid,smooth and measure 4.0–6.0 x 3.0–4.0 µm. It isillustrated by Phillips (1981, p.182) as Pleurotuslignatilis.

All of these wonderful green spaces, that weare so fortunate to have today, have enduredmany changes and influences since the days ofbeing hunting areas for deer, not least two worldwars, agricultural uses, Dutch elm disease andtwo devastating recent storms. However, a testa-ment to our custody, ancient parks such asRichmond and Bushy remain relatively intact. Asthis habitat type is very scarce in other parts ofEurope and indeed the world, these old deerparks are now of international importance andwill become increasingly so.

Fig. 4. Gloeoporus dichrous, growing on small fallen branches of oak, Richmond Park, 2008. Photograph ©Andy Overall.

ReferencesAinsworth, M. (2004). Gloeoporus dichrous in

southern England. Field Mycology 5(2): 45–48.Evans, S. (2001). Conservation Corner: The Oak

Polypore - a challenge. Field Mycology 2(3): 88–89.

Evans, S. (2002). Conservation Corner: Oak Polypore and Sudden Oak Death (SOD). Field Mycology 3(3): 107.

Evans, S. (2006). Conservation Corner: Oak Polypore (Piptoporus quercinus) in Wales. Field Mycology 7(4): 143–144.

Fortey, R. and Skeates, S. (2004). Predictions occasionally are fulfilled – Piptoporus

quercinus. Field Mycology 5(2): 43–44.Henrici, A. (2007). Notes and Records.

Field Mycology 8(2): 70–71.Phillips, R. (1981). Mushrooms. Pan books.

Fig. 5. Phellinus torulosus, growing at the base of an old hawthorn, Bushy Park, 2008. Photograph © AndyOverall.

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