[039] Armillaria mellea, Honey Mushroom

[039] Armillaria mellea, Honey Mushroom

Introduction

Armillaria mellea, Honey Mushroom, is a common and very widespread fungus that grows on living or dead wood.

I will also include two other gilled mushrooms and show you some pictures. I can’t guarantee exact species identification.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Fungi

Phylum – Basidomycota

Class – Agaricomycetes

Subclass – Agaricomycetidae

Order – Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)

Family – Physalacriacreae

Genus – Armillaria (Honey fungi)

Scientific Name – Armillaria mellea

Name

Armilla is a term in zoology for a ring of hair and mellea means honey. It is probably named from its colour and the sticky nature of its top.

Fungi

I have to say something about the world of Fungi, currently considered to be a separate Kingdom of organisms that are not plants and are not animals, but I will be brief. There may be three or four million species of fungus but only about 100 000 have so far been identified. They include yeasts and moulds as well as the more familiar mushroom-like fungi.

Most fungi for most of their lives are microscopic structures and are invisible. What we see are their fruiting bodies.

There is no universally accepted system for higher level taxonomy in mycology (the study of fungi.) There may be about three hundred Orders. We will only meet two of them.

Agaricales includes all the gilled mushrooms. It has about 400 genera and 13 000 species.

Armillaria Mellea

Armillaria mellea, known as Honey Fungus, is common and widespread in Northern temperate areas and grows on a variety of living or dead trees. It has many different varieties.

It is generally edible but this may depend on the species of tree on which it is growing.

Armillaria Tabescens

Armillaria tabescens doesn’t have a common name but my identification app calls it ringless honey mushroom. (The app has a name for everything.) It is also possibly edible but not recommended.

It used to be a variety of Armillaria mellea and is similar but less widespread.

Macrolepiota Procera

Macrolepiota procera, the Parasol Mushroom, in the family Agaricaceae, is named from its appearance. It is a popular edible mushroom.

Other Notes

I am not guaranteeing any of my identifications. The taxonomy of Fungi seems to be even more fluid than plants and animals. Some species have changed families since I first observed them. (To be honest, several birds have changed their genus as well.)

The fruiting bodies that we see are transient. They may take just a few days to grow fully and die away. So be quick if you want to photograph them.

See also

[092] Common Ink Cap will include some other Agaricales. I have just split them into two groups by families.

[038] Arion rufus, Red Slug

Arion ater, Black Slug

Introduction

Arion rufus, the Red Slug (or European Red Slug or Large Red Slug) and Arion ater, the Black Slug (or European Black Slug or Large Black Slug) are two species of large slugs found in Britain. They are the most common of about forty species found in Britain.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Molluscs

Class – Gastropods (Slugs and Snails)

Order – Stylommatophora

Family – Arionidae (Roundback Slugs)

Genus – Arion

Scientific Name – Arion rufus (Red Slug), Arion ater (Black slug)

Note that Slugs is a polyphyletic group. Several separate evolutionary lines have led to snails losing their shells (generally with an internal vestigial remnant.)

Name

The word ‘slug’ originally meant a slow or lazy person, from Norse origins.

There was an Ancient Greek poet called Arion and also a very swift, immortal talking horse in Greek Mythology. I can’t see why either of these should provide a name for a genus of slugs.

The Latin ‘rufus’ means red or reddish and ‘ater’ means dull {not shiny) black.

Description

Slugs are snails that have lost their shells. They generate mucus partly to protect themselves from dehydration. There is not much I can add to that. I’m not in the habit of examining slugs closely and I don’t suppose my readers are.

I have found pictures of four slugs from my pictures aver the last few. As this blog is all about species, I would like to be able to claim their identities precisely. Two are definitely red-brown and two are black. But colour is not a reliable identification feature and the two species are indistinguishable without minute, detailed examination. Sometimes they are considered to be subspecies of the same species.

Habitat

Both are widespread and common across Europe.

Other Notes

Snails are not organisms I usually look for but sometimes they literally cross my path out in the countryside. They do have the advantage of being easy to photograph because they can’t run away very fast and they don’t have a shell to hide in. My general impression is that you are more likely to spot slugs and snails after rain

I would like to include all British slugs in this post but you probably won’t see many. This tiny thing is the only other one I have spotted.

See also

See [172] Roman Snail and other snails.

[037] Argentina anserina, Silverweed

[037] Argentina anserina, Silverweed

Introduction

Argentina anserina, Silverweed, widespread throughout the Northern hemisphere is a low, ground-covering perennial plant with attractive leaves, silvery looking on one side. It is, of course, known formally as Common Silverweed, also known as silver cinquefoil. (There are three other silverweeds in Anserina.)

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Rosales

Family – Rosaceae

Genus – Agentina

Scientific Name – Argentina anserina

It was originally known as Potentilla anserina and its removal from Potentilla is controversial.

Name

The genus Argentina (and the country) gets its name from the Spanish for silver.

As you will remember from [026] Greylag, anser is Latin for goose. Its name in Swedish is gåsört (goose-wort) perhaps because it was used to feed geese, or because the leaves were reminiscent of a goose’s feet. [Remember, of course, that Linnaeus was Swedish.]

Description

It is very closely related to Potentilla, often called cinquefoils, and is similar in appearance. It is a low-growing, creeping plant with saw-toothed leaves.

The leaves are covered in tiny hairs, especially on the underside. These hairs give it a silvery look.

I had not noticed its flowers but if you zoom into the last picture you can see two yellow flowers hiding behind the leaves. They have five petals like typical cinquefoils. (That is, of course, what ‘cinque-foil’ means.)

Habitat and use

Silverweed is native to most of the Northern Hemisphere and can spread rapidly. Its roots can be used as a food crop, similar to parsnips.

Its ability to spread can make it a garden weed.

[036] Arge pagana, Large Rose Sawfly

[036] Arge Pagana, Large Rose Sawfly

Introduction

Arge pagana is a common insect in the Sawfly group, sometimes know as the Large Rose Sawfly.

Wikipedia notes that the very similar Arge ochropus is also called a Rose Sawfly.

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees and Wasps – and Sawflies)

Suborder – Symphyta (Sawflies and others)

Family – Argidae

Genus – Arge

Scientific Name – Arge pagana

Name

‘Symphyta’ is derived from the Greek for ‘grown together’ for the lack of a ‘waist.’

Several nymphs and maidens in Greek mythology were called Arge. I am not sure that any of them would feel complimented by having their name used for a squidgy, fat little insect. ‘Pagana’ just means rural.

It must be difficult finding original Latin names for 57 very similar species of Arge. Some are named for the species of their food. Arge pagana has the obsolete synonym Arge rosae, which seems more appropriate.

(Synonyms usually arise when two people independently identify and name a new species.)

Sawflies

I won’t go into all the details but the order Hymenoptera is traditionally divided into two suborders.

• Apocrita, with a narrow petiole (‘waist’) in their abdomens, which includes ants, bees and wasps (and some others). There are about 150 000 species.
• Symphyta, mostly Sawflies, with 7 000 species.

The Sawflies are named from the saw-like shape of the ovipositor but you will never see this. The lack of the petiole makes them very different in shape to bees and wasps.

Sawflies, typically about a centimetre in length, are usually plant-eaters. They are holometabolous and the adults only live for about a week. The female uses her ovipositor to drill into the plant to lay her eggs and the larvae feed on the plant.

When you see large numbers of ‘caterpillars’ on a plant they are usually sawfly larvae. They can cause extensive damage to crops and other plants and are major pests in forestry.

Description

Arge pagana has a large, fat abdomen coloured bright yellow-orange, which is visible through the translucent wings. Most of the rest of the body is black.

Habitat

This species is widely distributed and feeds on several Rosa species. Here is a female laying her eggs.

A few days later, here is the scar on the rose stem with the eggs.

Other Notes

It won’t surprise you that the place to look for these is on roses. Pictures are from a rose in my tiny garden

See also

Coming soon another sawfly, [046] Athalia rosae. You may think from the name that it’s another rose sawfly but it isn’t. Taxonomists don’t always get things right. (You probably knew that already.)

[035] Arenaria interpres, Turnstone

[035] Arenaria interpres, Turnstone

Introduction

Arenaria interpres, the Turnstone, is a small shore bird found worldwide but only in coastal areas. There is another species of Arenaria, the Black Turnstone, found only on the West coast of North America so the more common bird has the more official name of Ruddy Turnstone. In Britain we just call it the Turnstone.

There is not much possibility of confusing this colourful bird with the flowering plants also called Arenaria!

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Charadriiformes (Wading birds and gulls)

Family – Scolopacidae (Sandpipers and others)

Genus – Arenaria

Scientific Name – Arenaria interpres

Name

It’s called a Turnstone because it does actually forage on beaches by turning stones over with its bill to see what is underneath.

Arenaria is derived from Latin ‘inhabiting sand’ cognate with arena.

Interpres means interpreter and derives from a misunderstanding. Linnaeus thought that the Swedish ‘Tolk’ meaning interpreter applied to this species – but it was actually a dialect word meaning legs, and it was used for [344] the Redshank.

Description

Arenaria interpres is about the same size as [006] the Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper but is much more colourful in its breeding and winter plumages.

In the breeding plumage it is mostly red-brown and black above and pure white below, with orange legs.

The non-breeding plumage is a mottled brown above but still with the white underparts and orange legs.

You may see one with an in-between look.

They are almost always seen by the shoreline and feed mostly on small invertebrates.

Habitat

The map of this bird’s location is unusual. It is more or less a very thin line round the coasts of the World – excluding the far North, the Southern tip of South America and inland seas such as the Mediterranean.

As well as turning stones, they also generally forage around seaweed and peck the surface.

Other Notes

This is a bird often found in small groups.

I have had to resist the temptation to show pictures from around the World. Although it is coastal, it will occasionally venture as far inland as seaside promenades and even roads within a hundred metres of the sea.

See also

There are several other small wading birds like [006] the Sandpiper, which are found throughout wetland habitats but the Turnstone keeps strictly to coasts.

[034] Ardea cinerea, Grey Heron

[034] Ardea cinerea, Grey Heron

Introduction

Ardea cinerea, the Grey Heron, is a long-necked wading bird, common and widespread over Britain and much of the World.

It feeds by wading in shallow water and may be seen around ornamental lakes but, unlike waterfowl, Coots, Moorhens and gulls it generally keeps well away from humans.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Pelecaniformes

Family – Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets and Bitterns)

Genus – Ardea (Herons)

Scientific Name – Ardea cinerea

Name

Heron is a long-established word for the bird, probably from an onomatopoeic form of ‘screech.’

All herons are more or less grey with some shading. Perhaps the Grey Heron is greyer than the others,

Ardea cinerea is Latin for grey heron

Herons and Egrets

Pelecaniformes consists of five families – Pelecanidae (Pelicans), Threskiornithidae (Spoonbills and Ibises), Ardeidae (Herons and Egrets) and two obscure species that each have a family to themselves. Until a few years ago I could have said that only one of these families will concern us but now [272] the Spoonbill is becoming an established species.

There are about 70 species in Ardeidae, the Heron family and about a third of these come in the main genera Ardea (Herons) and Egretta (Egrets).

Of course, if you thought that the division was going to be that easy you haven’t been paying attention. In normal parlance the difference between herons and egrets is that egrets are white and herons are not white. So Ardea consists of lots of species called herons and some called egrets, and Egretta contains lots of species called egrets and some called herons. And there are quite a few of these species for which there is disagreement as to whether they are Egretta or Ardea.

However you look at it, Ardea cinerea is definitely a heron.

Description

The Grey Heron is a bird you have probably seen

Its plumage is partly light grey with some dark grey, some white (mostly the neck and head) and some almost black – especially the line across the head. The long, pointed bill is orange, sometimes grey on top.

It either stands still at the edge of shallow water or moves very slowly through it. When it sees suitable prey, it strikes with speed using its bill to stab or grab. It feeds on small fish, crustaceans and insects but can easily manage a duckling or a young Coot or Moorhen. At night it roosts in trees.

Birds generally nest communally in heronries with large nests at the top of trees. Both parents share the feeding.

This nearly adult bird has not yet developed the distinctive black and white head markings.

They adapt well to towns and cities and are not averse to taking fish from garden ponds. My second picture above was taken in a London park within a metre of customers at an outdoor café.

When herons fly the neck is retracted in an ‘S’ shape. This is the distinguishing feature that defines the family Ardeidae

Habitat and use

The Grey Heron is widespread over most of Eurasia and in most parts, it is a resident bird.

To the Ancient Egyptians, Bennu, the god of the sun, creation and rebirth, was depicted as a heron. To the Romans its call foretold a coming event. As late as the Nineteenth Century herons were being caught for eating.

Those with the surnames Earnshaw, Hernshaw or Herne owe their names to the heron.

Other Notes

I think Ardea cinerea must be territorial because I never see more than one. We generally have one at our local park but it is not always there. Perhaps its territory includes some other lakes.

See also

Later on, you will meet [122] the Little Egret. Although it’s an egret it is very similar. [272] The Spoonbill is not quite as similar.

[033] Arctium lappa, Greater Burdock

[033] Arctium lappa, Greater Burdock

Arctium minus, Lesser Burdock

Arctium tomentosum, Woolly Burdock

Introduction

Arctium lappa, Greater Burdock; Arctium minus, Lesser Burdock; and Arctium tomentosum, Woolly Burdock are three similar common and widespread wildflowers that might be considered as weeds. Despite being common and widespread, all three are available for cultivation as garden plants.

There are about fifteen species of Arctium, Burdock. For most of this blog I will consider the three British species together.

I am always wary of Wikipedia as a source for common names as I think it gives many obsolete names and others used round the World that would never be used in Britain. But according to them.

• Greater Burdock is sometimes known as Edible Burdock, Thorny Burr, Happy Major, Lappa, Beggar’s Buttons or Gobo.
• Lesser Burdock is sometimes known as Common Burdock, Little Burdock, Louse-bur, Button-bur, Cuckoo-button or Wild Rhubarb.
• Woolly Burdock is sometimes known as Downy Burdock

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Flowering Plants

Order – Asterales

Family – Asteraceae

Genus – Arctium

Scientific Name – Arctium lappa, Arctium minus, Arctium tomentosum.

There are several synonyms and the genus Arctium has been called Lappa

Name

Although Burdocks come in the Aster family, they have large leaves that make them visually similar to the docks and sorrels of the Rumex genus. The prickly seed heads are known as burrs. Hence the name ‘burr-dock.’

Apparently ‘Arctium’ is Latin for a plant of some sort. ‘Lappa’ is the Latin name for Burdock. It won’t surprise you that in Latin ‘minus’ meanes ‘lesser’ and ‘tomentosus’ means ‘hairy.’

Read on to find out why in many languages there is only one word for burdock or velcro …

Description

Burdocks are not that closely related to the Docks (Rumex) and their flowers are different but their very large leaves are similar.

They grow almost to a small bush especially when they are allowed to grow together in groups.

I can’t be sure but my pictures of plants in flower may all be Lesser Burdock.

You can see some attractive leaves in the plants above but near to the ground there are large leaves looking more like Dock.

Habitat and use

Greater Burdock is native to most of Eurasia. Wikipidea says it is naturalised almost everywhere, which is a bit like calling it an invasive weed.

Lesser Burdock is native to Europe but an introduced species in several other countries.

Woolly Burdock, native to Eurasia, has been naturalized elsewhere.

Dandelion and Burdock has been a traditional drink in the UK. Originally a kind of light alcoholic mead made from fermented [338] Dandelion and Arctium lappa, it has evolved into a carbonated soft drink and it now rarely contains either of these plants.

Other Notes

We all know what ‘Velcro’ is, although technically speaking it is a protected trade name. It’s a kind of hook-and-loop fastening. The idea came from a Swiss engineer in 1941 when he noticed the burrs of Burdock sticking to his clothes and the fur of his dogs. He looked at them microscopically and noticed lots of tiny hooks. The production process failed with cotton but was successful with synthetic fibres such as nylon, which does not fray or attract mould. It took another ten years to mechanize the process and create a workable product that is now widely used. And in some countries what we call Velcro has the same name as Burdock.

Here are some burrs that stay on the plants long after the flowers have died.

I see so much Burdock that I tend to ignore it on my walks. It’s common on wild land and even in parks. I think it is mainly Greater Burdock but I am not sure.

See also

There are many other species in Asteraceae but most of them are not like the Burdocks. Perhaps the thistles are closest in their appearance.

[Just in case you were wondering, the word Velcro comes from the French ‘velour’ and ‘crochet’ meaning velvet and hook.]

[032] Araucaria araucana, Chile Pine

[032] Araucaria Araucana, Chile Pine

Introduction

Araucaria Araucana, the Chile Pine, is a Pine tree unlike other Pines, with thick triangular leaves rather than needles. Some botanists put its family into a separate Order rather than treating it as a Pine.

It is also known generally as a Monkey Puzzle tree and sometimes as a Monkey Tail Tree, Piñonero or Pewen.  The last two or three names are probably used in the USA.

It is native to a small area in Chile and Argentina, where it is now endangered, and represents a small family of species that are found scattered across small areas of South America, North-East Australia and some islands. They have a common ancestry dating from the time when South America and Australia were both connected to the continent of Antarctica in the supercontinent of Gondwala – 200 million years ago.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Pinophyta (Conifers)

Class – Pinopsida (Conifers)

Order – Pinales (All extant conifers)

Family – Araucariaceae

Genus – Araucaria

Scientific Name – Araucaria Araucana

Name

While the name ‘Monkey Puzzle’ has an obvious meaning its derivation can be defined very precisely. In 1850, when it was still a rare species in England, Sir William Molesworth had one at Pencarrow near Bodmin in Cornwall. When he showed it to some friends, one of them, a barrister, Charles Austin remarked, “It would puzzle a monkey to climb that.” As it hadn’t been given a common name it became a Monkey Puzzle.

The scientific name and the name of its Family and Genus all come from the Araucanians, the indigenous inhabitants of parts of Chile.

Description

We will meet more typical conifers later, with their needle-shaped leaves, but the Chile Pine is not typical.

Apart from the distinctive leaves, as shown in the young tree above, it also grows to a very distinctive overall shape. Typically, there are no branches coming from its lower trunk, which forms 70-80% of its height. At the top it is circular with a few almost horizontal branches in a sort of umbrella shape.

I have never really thought about how conifers reproduce so I have had a bit of help from Wikipedia. The Chile Pine is dioecious. Just in case you haven’t met that word before, it means that some trees are male and some are female.

Male, pollen bearing cones are long and female seed cones are round and can grow to 20 cm. diameter, holding 200 seeds. What really surprised me was that the cones take 18 months to mature before they burst and release the seeds. The picture below from a very tall tree shows nearly mature female cones and possibly a couple that have burst.

I was able to get much closer for a picture of the developing male cone.

Cultivation and Use

The Monkey Puzzle is now a popular ornamental garden tree.

The seeds are edible, similar to large pine nuts, and are harvested by indigenous people in Argentina and Chile. They could become a harvestable crop but the tree does not yield seeds until thirty to forty years old.

Other Notes

I have to admit that when I thought of this blog, I knew that I wanted to include a Monkey Puzzle but I hadn’t found one yet. It’s an attractive and unusual tree. I have memories of one very close to where I grew up in Ilford.

Fortunately, as I checked out surrounding parks, I found a young tree, only two or three metres high, and I could get some close-up pictures of its young leaves. A few weeks later I discovered a much taller example and was surprised to see its large cones.

I was even luckier, after completing my draft post, which was ready to upload (last September) I passes another Chile Pine with the developing male cone. So, I did a bit of rewriting.

As for all of my species, you may find one near to you if you keep looking.

See also

As the first of our conifers, this example doesn’t have any close relatives in England. But we will meet a few other conifers later.