Fungi (Mitrula paludosa)

When you are out and about it pays to keep your eyes open, look up and down, left and right! After a while I think you develop a sense of what is unusual as opposed to 'ordinary'. There is nothing 'ordinary' in the world, may be familiar would be better?

When at Arne it is easy to look up in to the trees for birds, or through the woods for deer or out across Poole Harbour just for the views but if you keep your eyes open you will find many things that are quite unusual, and this fungi is one of them.

OK, it's not much to look at but in the drainage ditch where it grows there is a lot of it and it is unusual. Referring to my library I find this is a fungus called Mitrula paludosa that grows on rotting twigs in damp ditches amongst sphagnum mosses. The amazing thing to me is that exactly these factors come together in the coniferous woodland near the Shipstall bird hide and there is the fungus right where the book says it will be!

It is described as 'occasional' which means it is not that common. I want to know how this fungus can survive and spread given the uniqueness of its habitat?

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