Whilst waiting for the snowdrops to flower in the woods I noticed the Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes) that are growing everywhere. This species of mushroom is stimulated to fruit by the cold weather. The weather has been perfect recently and it is now really common in the woods. The picture above shows a young mushroom growing out of the broken trunk of a willow. The more established fungus below was growing at the base of another willow.
This Fungus above below (and below that) is a real odd thing. It kind of looks like badger dung. Its name is Purple Jellydisc (Coryne dubia) and looks more alien than anything I have ever found in the forest. It is just a big blob of jelly! This is one weird creature. Unusually for a fungus it doesn't spore, rather it produces asexual conidiospores which it releases into the air. The benefit of this is that it can successfully spread without the need of other jellydiscs. Perhaps the most unusual thing is that the next step of evolution, the jellydisc that can have sex with other jellydiscs can also be found in the forest. It shows that for this species, asexual reproduction is just as effective as sexual reproduction. That is a rare occurrence. In most other species you either do or you don't.
This last one is weird because it grows high up in the willows. This is some more White Rot (Bjerkandera adusta) growing out of the branching point on a willow. Interestingly a separate nearby twig has gained a fruiting body. It makes you wonder if being high up gives them an advantage when sporing.
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