Fungal Frustrations

The local fungi are driving me to distraction. New ones keep appearing, in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, groupings and colours, and in all sorts of places - just about everywhere except on the open beach. The trouble is that I can't stop myself taking their pictures, after which I feel I must make some attempt to find out what they are.

This one was in a ditch in Beinn Bhraggie woods and was such a spectacular colour that Mrs MW climbed down in the ditch to take a closer look. To give a sense of scale, the log is about 6" in diameter. What I love about this fungus is that it seems to mimic a flame, burning upwards from the bottom of the tree and working its way up the cracks in the bark. I think I know what it is, maybe: yellow brain, Tremella mesenterica - and, yes, yellow brain fungus can be orange.

I have no idea what this one is but I love the way it has burst out of just one place on this fallen pine with all its caps squeezing out of the one spot. This was in the plantation on the shores of Loch Fleet at Littleferry, as was....

....this one, which I like for the way it has found a comfy cushion of moss out of which to grow. Again, despite a search I still don't know its name - it would be so much easier if it had been a bright colour rather than a common brown.

This was also in Littleferry woods and, even though it is a slightly more unusual colour, I still can't identify it. It looked remarkably slimy and resembled someone's naked rear end.

Failure, failure - so these are a bright colour but I still couldn't identify them for certain. They may be golden waxcap, Hygrocybe chlorophana, but golden waxcap doesn't seem to have the pale fringes round the edge of the cap. They were out on the links at Littleferry, as was....

....this little colony. It was one of half a dozen, all close together in just the one place. Each was about 3" across and was firm but slimy, and, yes, I may have managed to identify it: it's golden spindles, Clavulinopsis fusiformis.