Jake Dalzell
@bitheolaidhe
botanist and micromycologist from Belfast luıḃeolaıḋe ⁊ mıcrıṁíceolaıḋe 'e ḃunaḋ Ḃéal Feırste PhD student in Aberystwyth studying plant and fungal communities and grassland restoration My websites: irishplants.org plantpathogens.net
I just saw a Speckled Wood lay this egg on a Poa in a crack in our garden pavement. A poor choice! It is one of the only butterflies that happily completes its entire lifecycle here in small gardens like ours and is very successful doing so.
Phacellium alborosellum, a commonish leaf spot on Cerastium. The large bundles of conidiophores are easily visible under the hand lens. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
I've been enjoying testing out the new, greatly simplified Euphrasia key this year. I'm yet to find anything other than E. nemorosa though. Today's version of that species had especially large flowers.
It's punishingly hot today, but what a privilege to visit one of County Down's few remaining hay meadows!
To my great surprise I found a rust! Puccinia sp. on Agrostis capillaris #WildPlantDisease #FungiFriends
Epipactis helleborine is very common right now in urban Belfast in parks and gardens. It seems to be increasing.
So I've been trying to rear these out in a Starbucks cup (following Elven et al., 2024) and it actually worked 😭 I'm so excited I actually have an adult from this specimen and hopefully more on the way
The grassland I'm in today is full of grass rusts and the Mycodiplosis larvae which feed on them. As I argued in this blogpost this probably represents a considerable flow of nutrients from plants into invertebrates and their predators irishplants.org/blog/2026/02... #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Two weeds I introduced to our garden that are now thriving - Centaurium erythraea and Sherardia arvensis. Centaurium occurs on brownfield sites in Belfast but Sherardia is basically unknown here. This one I got from a population on machair in Mayo.
it's very difficult not to spend the whole day dozing in the grass when the weather is like this
Septoria heraclei on Heracleum sphondylium at Killard. This is one of the toothpaste-type Septoria species which extrude their conidia in a white amorphous mass. I've been looking out for this one for a while! #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Synchytrium on Plantago lanceolata, new to me today. This seems to match S. erieum but the taxonomy in this group is a bit messy. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Some rarely recorded gall midges: Geocrypta rostriformis on Galium verum Dasineura affinis on Viola riviniana (with a cocoon inside)
I spent the last week in Toraigh, a Gaelic-speaking island community off the coast of Donegal. I found Physoderma negeri on Euphrasia there, a rarely recorded chytrid fungus that forms dark warts. I also danced and sang a lot. A welcome escape from the anglosphere! #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Sna Cruacha Gorma iargúlta uaigneacha inniu chonnaic mé Puccinia urticata ar Chúl Fáidh (nó Neantógaí) #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Tá mé sa Ghaeltacht an tseachtain seo ⁊ bhí sé d'ádh orm Golovinomyces asperifoliorum ar Symphytum a fháil ar an Bhun Bheag #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
I never noticed this grass before but I found it as a pavement plant today: Vulpia myuros. Apparently common and increasing.
A species I found several times while in continental Europe recently is Coleroa robertiani, which infects Herb Robert. I have never found it in Ireland, despite there being a lot of records. Maybe it gets more common the further south you go. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
It's powdery mildew season already in Paris #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
I'm leaving Germany tomorrow and I'm going to miss all of the wonderful habitats and species here. I'm already excited for next year!
Best find was Chris Preston's Peronospora on Ranunculus flammula, one of the undescribed ones and a rare one too #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Saw this absolutely enormous slug (Limax sp.) today enjoying some Auricularia. German forests are amazing! #FungiFriends
My favourite find today was this Peronospora on Trifolium striatum. Both it and its host are new to me. They were accompanied by a lovely view! #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease