Laura and I enjoyed two walks in Smiley's Provincial Park in the fall. This park is easily accessible year round. The park is a delight after a heavy rain due to the myriad of fungi that appear; mushrooms, algae and lichen.

A delight on this walk was finding the swamp beacon, a genus of fungi in the family Sclerotiniaceae.

Fungi Walk 108

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Mitrula is a genus of fungi in the family Sclerotiniaceae^[1] first described by Elias Magnus Fries, in his Systema Mycologicum (1821).

The common name for the matchstick-like fungus is either swamp beacon (US) or bog beacon (GB)^[2] refers to the white stipe with yellow fruiting cap. The genus is notable for growing on decaying vegetation in shallow water.^[3]

The saprobiontic fungi depend on wet or boggy habitats, with plenty of rotting vegetation. They live and feed on rotting leaves and stems, breaking them down into smaller compounds on which various plants and animals feed. ^[2]

The aquatic discomycete Mitrula can be found in Europe, Asia, and North America. They still hold an uncertain position within the Helotiales.^[4]

The species include Mitrula alba, Mitrula elegans, Mitrula lunulatospora, Mitrula microspora, Mitrula paludosa and Mitrula serpentina. Some of them are difficult to distinguish, for instance the match-stick fungus Mitrula elegans is often mistaken as Mitrula paludosa.^[5]

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  Mitrula paludosa, illustration by Jan Kops, Flora Batava, 1816)
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