Lycogala terrestre Sym. L epidendrum
Wolfs Milk Mushroom
This species can be found throughout the year but my records for our area mainly record its presence from the end of May to June. The Fruit bodies are found most often on dead & rotten wood. Individual spheres rarely exceed 150mm dia., they appear initially as a soft easily punctured peach, orange or pink trooping or clustered groups. I personally have seen around 200 fruit bodies on a single log.
The sphere contains a yellow fluid which dries into a scally patch.
Over the course of a couple of days the fruit bodies harden and become reddish grey or lead grey. The yellow fluid dries to form spore powder.
The spores on mass may appear salmon pink at first but ultimately have more of a yellow hue.
Individual spores are classed as sub-spherical and are covered, at first glance, with what appear
to be spines but on closer inspection are reticulated fine ridges. The species is classified as frequent.
This species has been found at Warren Heath, Bramshill Plantation & Heath Warren.