Although a little late in the season with frosts starting to occur, Saturday’s fungi foray with Dave Winnard from Manchester Mushrooms (http://www.manchesterwildlife.com/Manchester_Wildlife/Manchester_Mushrooms.html) gave us a record of sixty different types of fungi at Dove Stone. Slightly earlier in the season and the figure could easily be far greater.
Amongst the different species we found were Amethyst Deceiver ( the example we found was really quite beautiful, looking a little like a violet iris ), Pleated Inkcap ( aka Little Japanese Umbrella ), Verdegris Agaric , Vermillion Waxcap, Earthtongue and Leafy Brain to name just a few personal favourites on the day. Some of the fungi we saw at Dove Stone whilst not rare were locally uncommon, such as the Primrose Brittlegill, found growing on Pine, whilst others such as the Golden Waxcap are species indicative of important unimproved grassland.
The identification of fungi isn’t to be taken lightly. Certainly some fungi such as the Brown Roll Rim ( also found at Dove Stone ) are toxic, in this case the toxins having a cumulative effect. There were some interesting facts to be learnt about fungi such as the ability of the Honey Fungus to kill trees through its spreading root system ( known as bootlaces ) around a tree. And such a small thing too.
Even if it is a little late in the season it’s still worth looking out for fungi though. You might see the Herald of Winter and certainly Spotted Toughshank and Staghorns ( Pale and Yellow ) have been seen lately ( Staghorn photo courtesy of Ken Gartside ). Here’s a few more photos of what to look out for…