Interesting looking fungus - can anyone identify it?

I saw this on the side of the road next to a tree. It was pretty big and quite an unusual shape! There was a smaller one just behind it. I've never seen a fungus like this so thought I'd snap a pic.

26 points · 8 comments · view on lemmy.world

8 Comments

BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 2y

Looks like an old and worm eaten bolete. You mentioned it was purple? Try squishing it a little and see if it changes color when you do that, it would be a useful in IDing it

AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 2y (1 reply)

Worm eaten Suillus Variegatus?

OmegaMouse@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 2y

You could be right! I should add that this was found in the UK, Midlands. Looks like it has a purple-y interior where it has been split/eaten in the middle

0v0@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 2y (3 replies)

Possibly X. subtomentosus, based on the cracks on the cap. What kind of tree was it found next to?

OmegaMouse@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 2y

I'll have a look at the tree later and get back to you!

OmegaMouse@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 2y (1 reply)

So I think it's a crab apple tree :)

0v0@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 2y

The ecology supports it then. S. variegatus would have been found near pine.

conditional_soup@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 2y

At a glance, it looks like a bolete, but that's a little bit of a more advanced identification than I feel comfortable with.