Geographic … Oxfordshire Map in Woodstock Museum … does look much the same, doesn’t it?
Roots of a Beech tree in the park, straight from Middle-earthWaxcap! Probably the Butter Waxcap, Hygrocybe ceracea: quite a few of them in a quiet corner among the grassA huge Artist’s Bracket, Ganoderma applanatum, on Beech, its preferred hostPerhaps Rootlet Brittlestem, Psathyrella microrhiza
Mottled Birch Bolete, Leccinum variicolor, in Gunnersbury Triangle. The species is edible (if found in quantity!) but not nearly as good as the Orange Birch Bolete.
Psathyrella, a smallish toadstool with a fragile stem, a cousin of the Inkcaps (Coprinus)
Yes you spotted it, not a fungus. A Smooth Newt under a nearby refugium.
These seem to be young Agaricus, probably Wood Mushrooms, in the ivy and leaf-litter.
Well, EVERYBODY noticed this mushroom! Giant Funnel, Leucopaxillus giganteusAmethyst Deceiver, Laccaria amethystina, very different (alas!) from the delicious Wood Blewit which also has “blue legs”.
Mycology from the Master: Alick Henrici with a keen pupil
A rare Rhodocybe gemina, the first record for Gunnersbury Triangle
Purple Swamp Brittlegill, Russula nitida
Mild Milkcap, Lactarius subdulcis. When scratched, Milkcaps exude a milky liquid (note the drops), with a taste that helps in diagnosis. This one is not peppery!
Earthball, Scleroderma – sometimes used to dilute costly Truffles, but toxic
Turkeytail Bracket, Trametes versicolor
Common Cavalier, Melanoleuca polioleuca
The Blusher, Amanita rubescens – an edible member of a dangerous genus. Its pink ‘blush’ when damaged can be seen in small patches of the cap and on the broken stalk.
Apart from the fungi named in the image captions, we also saw plenty of the Deceiver (Laccaria laccata); Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina); assorted species of Fairy Bonnets (Mycena spp.); the Brown Rollrim (Paxillus involutus); Puffballs (Lycoperdon perlatum); and more. There was hardly any Birch Polypore – we often have fine big white brackets of them: just one small nodule, Piptoporus betulinus.
Alick Henrici on Fungus Foray
Dreaded by gardeners – Honey Fungus, Armillaria mellea
Lilac Fibrecap, Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina
Webcaps, Cortinarius
An extremely tough bracket fungus
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
