Hypocreopsis rhododendri Hazel Gloves

Hazel Gloves is an unmistakable ascomycetous fungus which bears a resemblance to a small, multi-fingered hand clasping a twig or branch. As its name suggests, it is usually associated with Hazel (Coryllus avellana), but it is also found on other shrubs, particularly Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). Willow Gloves (Hypocreopsis lichenoides) is very similar but very rare and grows on willows in wet carr woodland. Hazel Gloves was first discovered and described in the Appalachian mountains of eastern North America, where it grows on Rhododendron, hence the specific epithet in its scientific name. In Britain, it is a nationally rare, hyperoceanic species of temperate rainforests and probably finds its optimum conditions in the Atlantic Hazel Woodlands of western Scotland. However, it may be spreading into new habitats in other parts of western Britain in response to cleaner air and global climate change which is driving a shift towards more Atlantic conditions, particularly in Wales and the Southwest. Since it has only been known in Britain for about 50 years (it was added to the British list in 1973), some people believe that it is a recent colonist. However it may have been an extremely rare species that had decreased greatly in abundance before that in response to poor air quality. There is evidence that, where it grows, Hazel Gloves actually parasitises the Glue-crust Fungus (Hymenochaete corrugata), a basidiomycete that grows on decaying twigs and branches. Similarly, Willow Gloves appears to parasitise Hymenochaete tabacina. Most specimens in West Glamorgan have been found growing on Blackthorn.