On June 8th VMS held walk on Cypress Mountain to explore the unique snow bank fungi of our coastal mountains. Seven hardy folk turned out to follow the snowmelt from 900 metres where patches of ground were newly exposed, down to patches of snow remaining between trees and on to snowless lowest trails. Much time was spent in lush woods with fog and light misty drizzle as we descended through the cloud layer to emerge with a bonus view of Vancouver below. Over 35 species of fungi were seen.

We found several fungi typically associated with melting snow in early spring. The more unusual are Vibrissea truncorum which grow on wood submerged in mountain streams, an aquatic discomycete that has a small round orange head 1-5 mm. wide on a gray fairly thick stalk. Swamp beacons or Mitrula elegans is a slightly larger discomycete growing at the edge of pools and sluggish streams but not in water, slender white stalks bear irregular yellowish orange caps.

A rather specialized discomycete that grows on decaying Yellow Cedar foliage emerging from snow mimics a jelly fungus. We found hundreds of Gelatinodiscus flavidus, small thin stalked orange jelly cups 2-7 mm across covering the brown remains of fallen foliage. Similar looking but not related is the common orange jelly drops, Guepiniopsis alpina or Heterotextus alpinus. These are larger orange fungal gumdrops common on sticks and branches in spring and are true jelly-fungi belonging to the Dacrymycetales.

Spring is usually when the typical cup fungi abound but on this trip we found only a couple. One large Pig’s Ear, or Discina perlata, was found; a large wrinkled brown convex cup with a short stem. The other cup was the rubbery brown black Pseudoplectania melaena which in most years would have been numerous. One Gyromitra esculenta was the only false morel found, the true morels remained elusive.

Edible mushrooms were represented by the Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus which grew on dead Alder trees in several points along our walk. It’s interesting to see that the Oysters fruit in spring in some locations and in autumn in others.

Probably not edible but striking were minute clustered orange hairy-edged cups covering degraded horse dung with a solid layer of orange dots. This turned out to be Cheilymenia fimicola or a close relative, just one of numerous fungi often ignored but well worth examining under a microscope.

List of fungi found June 08 2008 VMS trip to Cypress Bowl, North Vancouver:
* indicates a voucher collection was preserved.

*Cheilymenia fimicola? On horse dung
Cortinarius sp. Subgenus Phlegmacium, Bulbopodium
*Cudoniella clavus over duff and debris, Douglas fir cone

Dacrymyces deliquescens? on picnic table, edibility unknown.
Dasyscyphus sp. minute cups
*Discina perlata large and solitary, in soil

*Gelatinodiscus flavidus Jelly cups on rotting Yellow cedar foliage
Guepiniopsis alpinus fungal gum drops on sticks, common
Gyromitra esculenta one small, in soil

*Hygrophorus vernalis vinaceous buff with slightly viscid stem
*Hypholoma fasciculare single, green gilled wood-lover
Hymenochaete sp. brown crust on branches and logs

Kuehneromyces mutabilis = Pholiota mutabilis

Lachnellula sp. minute cups
Lachnum bicolor minute cups
Marasmius androsaceus “Horsehair mushroom”, on Thuja leaf litter.
Mitrula elegans “Swamp Beacons”
Mycena aurantiidisca bright orange cap
Mycena haematopus “Bloody Mycena”
*Mycena metata gray brown on wood
Mycena sp. “YAM”, yet another Mycena

*Nidula candida Large birds-nest fungi with many “eggs”
Nolanea holoconiata pink angular spores
Nolanea sp. angular pink spores
Nolanea verna “Spring Entoloma”

Panaeolus foenisecii solitary in lawn at parking lot
Panellus stipticus on wood, stubby stalked mock oyster
Phellinus sp.? brown crusts on logs
*Pithya vulgare on Fir twigs, small thin yellow and white cups
Pleurotus ostreatus “Oyster Mushroom”, numerous on Alder
Pseudoplectania melaena rubbery black-brown cup on wood

Stereum aurantium common smooth bottomed brackets
Stereum sanguinolentum host of Tremella encephala

Taphrina alni growths on Alder cones
*Tremella encephala Parasitic on Stereum sanguinolentum
Trametes versicolor old, “Turkey Tails”
Trichaptum abietinum old, bracket with violet toothy pore layer

*Vibrissea truncorum aquatic mushroom, orange cap, grey stalk