As you well know I've been working very hard this autumn at brushing up on my mycology skills. But there's only so much you can learn from books – as with many things, it's practical experience that makes all the difference. So when I heard that the Cumbria Fungi Recording Group were heading out for a number of fungi forays over the course of a few weeks there was no way that I was missing out.
I got in touch with the head of the group, Paul Nicholls, and arranged to meet up and accompany them on their first foray of the season. Seeing as the site was inaccessible to me, a non-driver, he kindly agreed to give me a lift to High Stand Plantation. We had a delightful conversation in the car about our respective histories and what I should expect from the day.
One of the participants, Chris, had been very busy and by the time we got there had rustled up a number of specimens for Paul to identify on arrival; red-cracking bolete, ochre brittlegill and a milkcap. He also brought a fine specimen of plums and custard from his garden, so named for its vibrant colours!
We all gathered round for our initial briefing about the day and for an opportunity to introduce ourselves. I definitely introduced myself as Rachel but was misnamed Rebecca a couple of times during the day! I was then given the extremely important job of holding the specimens basket, for any fungi that Paul was unable to identify on the day. I took this responsibility very seriously, but did wonder how I was going to manage holding that, looking for fungi and taking some nice pictures.
As we wandered around the woods I began to pick up some really useful nuggets of knowledge about the different varieties of fungus. Boletes have spores, not gills, making them easier to identify from many of the other groups. Polypores also have pores, but they're very easy to distinguish from bolotes. Generally speaking the gills of the brittlegill group are of a uniform length. And if you pinch the gills of the milkcap group they will produce a milky substance – giving the group its name. Fibrecaps have fibrous caps and crust fungus grows flat on wood.
The boletes actually sparked quite a lot of discussion over the course of the foray. We came across a very interesting fungus called a bolete-eater that was consuming one of the boletes we came across. Paul also told us that there were two species of red-cracking bolete, and the only way to tell them apart (other than under the microscope) is to cut into the flesh. One species will bruise red, whilst the other will bruise blue. I really need to get my hands on some kind of pocket knife for this – so much of identification requires cutting open specimens.
We saw loads of different fungi as we ventured deeper into the woods. It was really interesting to see the difference in species between the deciduous and coniferous portions of the plantation, but to also see the variety of species in one fairly small area. Highlights for me included razorstrop fungus, the cuticle of which is antiseptic so can be used as a field bandage, false chanterelle and yellow stagshorn.
I had a brilliant time out with the group and loved learning about all the fungi – only a portion of which I've written up here. It was great to be able to get knowledge from local experts and keen amateurs. Unfortunately I'm not able to get to anymore sessions this season (I'm just so busy!) but I'll be doing my best to attend more next year. In the meantime, I'll work on my own knowledge and keep hunting for more beautiful fungi!
Other Fungi
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