Thursday, 5 February 2026

Intruiging DNA result

I sent off a dried portion of the suspected (very strongly by me) Bracken Plums and Custard (Tricholomopsis pteridicola) and have just got the results back. It turns out not to be that species, which to be fair has never been recorded in the UK, but only, I think in France and Spain. It has been returned as a yet undefined Tricholomopsis species which has been recorded once in Cornwall and once in Spain. It is probably the same as a couple of other finds in Wales some years ago that were not DNA tested but seem to be similar in field characteristics. So the next step is to send the remains of the dried specimen to the Kew fungarium and hope that a name and a definition emerges.