Nicolas Schwab

The rare Fritillaria meleagris from Switzerland.

It is not a validly published species but a provisional name. That's why it isn't present in Index Fungorum and iNaturalist.

Colchicum bulbocodium is in full bloom in Valais!

Let's finish with a few weirdos! All of them are the unique representative of their section in Europe.
C. (Cort.) spilomeus, C. (Hygr.) renidens, C. (Cort.) caperatus and C. (Cort.) subtortus

I haven't found many myxacioids but I still have four collections of them. Cortinarius (Cort.) mucifluoides, C. (Thaxt.) salor, C. (Thaxt.) delibutus, C. (Cort.) trivialis.

Here are the two only known species of section Cortinarius. The first one is Cortinarius (Cort.) violaceus and the second is Cortinarius (Cort.) harcynicus. They have a very complicated history between lumping and splitting and experts are still arguing about their taxonomy.

I also made two sequenced collections of Cortinarius (Cort.) hirtus at All Things Fungi Festival 2024. It is very reminiscent of section Flexipedes or Hemitrichi, but is placed in sect. Megaspori.

Let's continue with telamonioids. I was more interested in other groups this year but I found some nice species. Cortinarius (Cort.) torvus, C. (Cort.) saturninus, C. (Cort.) uraceus, C. (Cort.) gentilis.

Cortinarius (Cort.) olivaceofuscus is the only species from section Pauperae in Europe. It grows in the same areas as Cortinarius humicola and I found it many times as well.

Next are some dermocyboid species. I didn't prospect conifer areas as much as other years, so I only found a few of them. Cortinarius (Cort.) bataillei, C. (Cort.) mirandus, C. (Cort.) cinnamomeus, C. (Cort.) malicorius.

Cortinarius (Cort.) humicola deserves its own post! It was present abundantly in beech forests this year, even though it's a red-listed species in Switzerland.

Now starting with leprocyboid species. Cortinarius (Cort.) orellanus, C. (Cort.) rubellus, and C. (Aur.) neocallisteus.

Last few random phlegmacioids. C. (Phl.) cumatilis var. robustus, C. (Phl.) foetens, C. (Phl.) percomis, C. (Phle.) vulpinus var. vulpinus.

A few more phlegmacioids, this time with more blueish tones. C. (Phl.) largus, C. (Phl.) magicus, C. (Phl.) praestans, C. (Phl.) variecolor.

Three calochroid phlegmacioid species. C. (Cal.) piceae, C. (Cal.) platypus and the first find for Switzerland of C. (Cal.) flavoaurantians.

More colorful phlegmacioid species! Cortinarius (Cal.) elegantissimus, C. (Cal.) splendens, C. (Cal.) odorifer, C. (Cal.) regis-romae.

Here's a thread about my Cortinarius finds from last season. Starting with a few colorful phlegmacioid species: Cortinarius (Cal.) atrovirens, C. (Cal.) citrinus, C. (Cal.) xanthophyllus and C. (Cal.) alcalinophilus.

Antherospora hortensis does not infect other Muscari. But several close cryptic taxa infect other species indeed.

Yes, this particular species is only found on one particular muscari. Other Antherospora infect different host, such as other Muscari, Scilla, Barnardia or Eucomis. But many more anthericolous genera are known: Microbotryum or Thecaphora, for example.

The last photo shows the brown spores under the microscope. The purple polygonal cells are part of the anthers of the plant. A mesmerizing view!

The first photo shows an infected plant. When it happens, all the plant is infected, meaning it's a systemic infection. The second photo depicts the anthers covered by brown spores. You can find this parasite by shaking the flowers, like I did in the third photo.

Nothing to see here, just a normal plant. Or is it? 🤨
Here's Antherospora hortensis, a parasite on the anthers of Muscari armeniacum. These parasite are called anthericolous fungi and from originate diverse lineages. They hijack pollination so their spores are dispersed by insects!
#fungifriends

I know three locations in the region where I live but only one of them produced a significant fruiting. I know it's fairly common in the UK but it seems to be more the exception more than the rule in Europe, unfortunately.

Currently, only P. calyptriformis sensu stricto has ever been sequenced from Europe. However, I suspect they might be an additional species in the Mediterranean area. Here's a specimen I found in Corfu last year.

The beautiful and rare Porpolomopsis calyptriformis. This species is critically endangered in Switzerland and globally vulnerable. Did you know there were at least 9 undescribed species in North America? Learn more on my iNaturalist journal post: www.inaturalist.org/journal/nsch...
#fungifriends

Cependant, la littérature mycologique se base uniquement sur des critères microscopiques pour certifier la présence de cette espèce. Il n'y a donc encore aucune certitude sur l'unicité de la cause des balais de sorcière des bouleaux. Les organismes cités sont hypothèses de travail.

Il est possible de les différencier, mais pas macroscopiquement. Malheureusement, la littérature récente ne mentionne souvent que Taphrina betulina et peu d'études ont été réalisées sur les balais de sorcières des bouleaux.

Tagging #fungifriends

Species/groups to clean in Europe These groups are in dire need of a deep clean. If you want to help, you can manually re-identify a few observations by following the link to the identification page. ### Commonly misidentified species...

You don't know what to do during winter and you want to help the iNaturalist community? Here's a list of high-priority groups to clean in Europe. We need help to re-identify them manually. Every identification counts!

www.inaturalist.org/journal/nsch...

Not one found today as I couldn't get outside but it's one I had a hard time identifying. Here's Sagiolechia protuberans, on calcareous rock with typically umbonate perithecia. It was only found 20 times in my country!