The Fungi Diaries

      On my odd fungi hunts this last week I've noticed the the Wolf's Milk slime mold is everywhere. Those tiny orange blobs seem to light up in the darkest corners of most woods and forests.    The Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum) is a common find, they grow mostly upon old damp or rotten wood, especially on large logs in shaded areas. They are a form of slim mold and not a fungi but even so are an interesting find. If squeezed while still young and pink the liquid that spills is of a very bright pink colour, as they mature it changes in colour and texture becoming a pinkish brown colour and becomes a thick clay like texture, this is how the spores are produced.

    So far this week I've found a few different fungi, some easy to identify, others not so, but this is all part of learning, spending an hour each evening researching the finds.    

    Well, I've been checking an area of grass in Outwell where there is a good selection or trees, some young but a few more mature specimens including Ash, Horse chestnut, Walnut and the odd Oak and Birch. At least once a week I stop while on my cycle and walk the length of this young woodland and as yet I've only seen the odd village of  Fairy Inkcaps but this week that changed when I stumbled upon a monster Dryads Saddle.     I find it hard to believe I had missed such s huge group of saddles, but I did. It seems the Dryads Saddle is the one fungi that is enjoying this first half of summer with many examples in and around the village. So far this is a biggest specimen that I've come across but you never know what the future holds, these saddles can grow to a massive size in just a few days if conditions are ideal 

    This weekend was a busy time for me, working both Sat and Sunday, but I did mange a trip to the Warren. It was the first dry day after a few days of rain and I was expecting to find a few little fungi friends or rather hoping.    The woods were still very damp yet again it was difficult to spot anything. The first find was another first for me, it was my first ever Dog Sinkhorn and I spotted  it from a good distance. The rain had spilt it a little but was still worth finding.     The second find I had was a Common Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus). It was an older specimen, the spores which are in a foul-smelling slim that covers the cap were gone, flies, which are attracted by the smell, carry it off which helps spread the spores.    Always a smile on my face when I spot a stinkhorn standing erect, for obvious reasons. The rest of the hunt didn't result in anything of interest which was a bit of a let down, I really thought the rain would ha...

    Well this week has been a mixed one with the sad news that somebody has broken off the huge Dryads Saddle growing on the old apple tree, but the good news being the long awaited rains arrived, rains which I'm hoping will bring out lots of new fungi.    On one of my morning cycles this week I thought I would check up on the old apple orchard, sure that the big Dryads Saddle would now be of great size. But sadly as I got within a few yards of the tree I spotted the saddle laying broken on the floor, such a shame.    The fungi was so solid and had a very thick stem, so I'm 99% sure it wasn't broken by any animal, it would have taken a lot to snap it, I'm guessing by kicking or stamping upon it. So sadly we won't get to find out how big it could have got.    The other Saddles growing in the orchard are doing fine and are getting large. The group growing on the same tree as the big broken one are now well outside the rotten branch they were in. And...

    Well, three days ago I checked on the progress of the apple tree Dryads Saddle and there was only a small amount of growth, which I put down to how warm and dry the weather was.      Then this morning I decided to give them a check and to my suprise the growth was amazing. What was just a small baby saddle of around 2 to 3 inches across was now a full adult example of easily 11 to 12 inches across, to be quite honest I was stunned at how big it had become.    Even the two tiny saddles that were growing in the hollow rotten branch on the same tree were now a good size and I'm sure will soon be popping their caps out into the open.      As I had been checking one of the other older trees to no avail I thought it would be a good idea to have another look. To my suprise then on one of the large limbs of the tree was a perfectly healthy saddle about 6 inches across with a good thick stem which could indicate or suggest this fungi was also...

    In the winter while on a morning walk I thought I would explore an old apple orchard that was left to the village and has since been turned into a small nature area. The existing apple trees are really old with some younger mixed trees have been added, including fruit and a mixture of deciduous. It was on this walk I noticed a large dry Dryad's Saddle laying beneath one of the ancien apple trees, I was sure it had fallen from the tree but couldn't find any evidence to clarify my assumption.     Since that freezing January morning I have kept an eye on the tree in question, more so since spring, having even stopped off on my daily cycles in case anything appeared. Well the good news is that this morning while walking through this quiet little parcel of land, as normal I headed off the path to check on the grand old apple tree and tbere growing around 12 inches from the ground was the sight I'd been longing to see, a lovely young Dryad's Saddle.    ...

    At the weekend I managed to get in another fungi hunt at Shouldham Warren. It was a day or two after we had steady rain for twelve hours so I was hoping to find something, in fact anything would have been nice.    It was an early morning search and was nice and quiet when I arrived. I decided to explore another new part of the wood to see if it would be promising later in the summer and Im happy to say it does look an ideal area.    While walking through one of the darker damp pieces of woodland I saw a bright yellow item ahead. Thinking it was litter I headed towards it to pick it up, but as I got closer I noticed it was looking like some kind fungus. It turned out to be my first example of Dog Vomit Slime Mold (fuligo septica) and what an example it was. Bright yellow, it almost glowed in the dark shade under the trees, I really believed it was a piece of litter or plastic as it was so bright in colour.     This is a mold rather than a fungu...

    A week ago while on a visit to one of my small local woods I was lucky enough to come across my very first circle of St Georges Mushrooms, in fact two circles withon 50 yards of one another. St Georges were one of over 40 fungi on my "wants" list (a list I may share with you one day), and how lucky was I to find two groups on the same morning.    St George Mushrooms (Calocybe gambasa), is one of the early edibles and very much sought after by all foragers and are very highly desired by some of the country's top restaurants. As I do with most new fungi I took a sample home first to reserch it and to do all my normal checks such as smell. The smell was one of a mealy scent, I thought a touch like leather or raw flour just as stated in all my books.     So after all the checks and feeling as confident as can be, I returned the next morning to gather a few to eat. I fried about five smallish mushrooms that morning with butter, which I must say did tast...

    Just wanted to show a few more of this weeks finds, most yet to be reaserched which means a few evening hours spent with books and the internet at hand. Enjoy your weekend and keep your eyes out for some nice fungi that are on there way up.

    It's been a busy week work wise but I have managed to continue my morning cycle trips and it was on one of these excursions that I decided to stop and search a small grassed area in Outwell. The narrow piece of land splits two main rounds that run through the village and has a good scattering of both young and mature trees from oaks to walnuts and birch, always a good place to look for fungi.    After only a few minutes I came across a nice village of Fairy Inkcaps, these little fungi always remind me of fairy homes that you would see on tv as a kid. There were some very young samples and others that were fully matured as seen in the picture below.     These were followed by a group of Glistening Inkcaps, one of the mose common fungi here in Upwell and Outwell.    The next find was a bit of a mystery and tho I think I found it when reserching online and in books I'm not 100% sure I have it correct.  I'm sure it is a young Alder Goblet. At...

    I just wanted to take a few minutes to make sure that anybody who like me are new to the wonderful magical world of mushrooms and fungi, really are careful about foraging and eating any of their finds. There are many fungi that are edible and really safe to eat in this country(some day over 300), but please please make sure you take time to study and research each different specimen you find.     Learn about the structure, the colour, smell when cut or sliced and also note the habitat where found as in woodland and by which tree along with grassed areas or mossy damp cpnditions. This will not only help identify the fungi but you can by recording such information know where to search in coming years.    There are many good books out there which will help a great deal and of course you have the internet to consult. So make sure you gather as much information as possible until you're confident eating is safe.    If it is a safe mushroom but it's ...