Fungi is one of those freakishly fascinating things which never fails to delight me. I spend a lot of my time stooped in some kind of rickety log pile or rotting heap of leaves. That said, I am rewarded by all sorts of bonnets, brackets, boletes and brittlegills, and I love them all!!
Here are some of my favourite fungal finds from this Autumn:
Fairy inkcap - Coprinellus disseminatus
Growing like armies of tiny umbrellas, these delicate mushrooms swarm over rotting wood. This has earnt them another name - 'Trooping crumble caps'! They were coined 'crumble' caps due to their tendency to disintegrate when touched (making them a nightmare for gatherers!).
Hairy curtain crust - Stereum hirsutum
Clinging to logs like a rickety staircase, these fungi decorate dead wood in waves of terracotta. Hence the name, the upper part of the fungus is indeed covered in small hairs! The brackets have wonky edges, and often have ripples of green and darker brown running through them. From above, the tiered layout gives an illusion of them tessellating at the edges. The fungus often hosts algae, which grows on its surface - but unlike lichen, this isn't a symbiosis.
Common Bonnet - Mycena galericulata
The 'galer' part of the latin name means 'with a very small hat'. This pretty much sums up the appearance of this mushroom! They are dainty and petite, coloured a brownish-grey. Spot these sombreros-on-sticks residing upon well-mossed and decayed logs - they do especially well in shady, damp areas, and are most common in deciduous woodland.
Amethyst deceiver - Laccaria amethystina
Dappling dead wood with pretty purples and lilacs, these delightful mushrooms made my day! I found them growing in clusters (an important characteristic) along the woodland floor. Amethyst deceivers can grow in both deciduous and coniferous woods - the trees around these were beech, which the shrooms seem especially fond of. As they age, the deep purple begins to fade into a light buff colour. This is one reason why these mushrooms are called 'deceivers' - they are easily confused with other, brown, mushrooms. The strength in colour can also depend on the weather!
Jelly ear - Auricularia auricula-judae
Wood ears, Jelly ears and Jew ears, are just some of the names given to these gelatinous globules of goo. I personally think they look the the little ears of elves! These fungi are well-known for their ability to shrink into black blobs in dry weather, and re-hydrate when it rains. I found them growing on dead wood (from broad leaf trees). They are especially common on elder, according to folklore... It is said that the 'judae' part of the latin name refers to Judas, the disciple who - in the christian bible - betrayed Jesus Christ. Apparently afterwards he hung himself from an elder tree (which is strange because elders are rather frail and weak). The Jelly ears supposedly represent his trapped spirit being tormented in the tree!
Common earthball - Scleroderma citrinum
Tucked away in tree roots, earthballs litter the woodland floor like mouldy potatoes on a compost heap. These mushrooms love to reside beneath trees, on damp, mossy and preferably acidic ground. Their surfaces are a lovely tawny brown, and are often very porous and cracked. When cut in half, a compacted mass of black spores is revealed - these are released gradually into the wind - in their hundreds!
Shaggy scalycap - Pholiota squarrosa
These rugged rascals are usually parasitic. Trees are their hosts, however the mushroom can also be saprobic (feeding on decaying wood). I found this cluster growing at the base of a trunk, and I loved how its tawny scales got closer together in the cap's centre - like a mandala!
Clouded funnel - Clitocybe nebularis
Like a pearl bracelet in the mud, this ring of massive mushrooms was impossible to miss! Being bright and bold, they stood out from the leaf litter, quite a display in an otherwise rather drab stretch of ground. These mushrooms are often found growing in rings (a phenomenon I'll explain on a separate blog!). The name of this fungus is rather interesting too - Clouded funnel, or Clouded agaric... In the latin name, 'Clitocybe' means 'sloping head' (hence funnel) and 'nebula' means mist, or 'stuff of clouds'! These shrooms are common in woods and hedgerows, so keep an eye out!
Shaggy inkcap - Coprinus comatus
The rust-flaked bell of Autumn, this mushroom is a telltale sign that the season is underway. They are renowned among gardeners and fungi hunters alike for their ability to magically appear in lawns, verges and disturbed ground - often in groups. The fungus gets its name 'inkcap' from a process called 'deliquescing'. This is where the white gills turn pink with age, an then become a black mushy 'ink' substance. Originally the genus Coprinus was characterised by this process, but the most reliable indicator is actually the presence of a ring on the stem, and a strand of stringy fibres within the cap.
So, if you go down to the woods today, keep your eyes peeled! The majority of these will be around rotting wood, lurking in the leaf litter, and nestled in roots.
Merry mushroom spotting!
