Train Wrecker

Monday Mushroom #105

The rather dramatic common name for this mushroom - train wrecker - comes from its habit of growing unbidden (and quite profusely) out of timber structures, particularly railway sleepers.

Neolentinus lepideus - train wrecker

Neolentinus lepideus - train wrecker

Neolentinus lepideus - train wrecker

As they grow, the fruiting bodies often become wavy, misshapen and quite messy.

Neolentinus lepideus - train wrecker

Sunset Pines

Friston Forest, Sussex, UK.

Caledonian Pines

 Tree-fetish Tuesday #47

A handful of venerable pines in Knoydart - John Muir Trust are nurturing a new generation of scots pines in the area.

 Darranacorachs is a long abandoned farmstead deep in the spruce plantations. When I first encountered it (and painted this picture) there were still several buildings and some accompanying scots pines, but both the pines and the buildings have since been smothered in windthrown spruce trees.

Autumnal Loch Side

Tree-fetish Tuesday #44

Pines of Formby Sands

Tree-fetish Tuesday #42

Formby Sands to Ainsdale nature reserve was one of my favourite haunts when I lived in Liverpool. Great fungi and wildlife, and beautiful, varied landscapes. The pines in this plantation have been busy carpeting the shapely sand-dunes with needles and cones...

Backlit Pine Plantation

Tree-fetish Tuesday #38

A surprising little pine plantation really high up in the hot, arid limestone mountains of Andalusia.

Red-Belted Pine Bracket

Monday Mushroom #45

Here's a pretty pine tree fungus from Mallorca - it also grows in the UK, but is quite rare over here.

Fomitopsis pinicola - Red-Belted Pine Bracket

Fomitopsis pinicola - Red-Belted Pine Bracket

Deer Fence & Dark Pines

Fenceopost of the Week #37

Cypress Valley

Tree-fetish Tuesday #20