Yesterday saw the return of the legend that is fungalpunk Dave and his hard working wife. Dave is a master at fungal identification and a very entertaining tour guide to boot! The event was very well attended, thank you to everyone that came along, and hopefully you all enjoyed it as much as we did. 80 species of fungi were found in total, including the fire-milk (Lactarius pyrogalus) which only grows near Hazel, and it's milk has a spicy hot taste, as our willing volunteers found out. We were all advised not to eat any of the fungi as the colour variations and appearance at different stages can be very deceptive, making it hard to determine exactly what you are eating. Dave advised to buy your mushrooms from a shop and not risk it. The popular red and white Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) was also spotted. The amantia fungi grow in bags underground and burst out leaving the little white bits on the cap that you can see. Fly agaric was traditionally used to kill flies, it was broken up with milk or sprinkled with sugar. It is still used for this purpose in parts of Europe today. Another easily identifiable one found on the day was the Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), which as the name suggests can be smelt from some distance away. It's mysterious appearance led to it being thought of as witches eggs or devil's eggs in the past. Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor) is a common one in woodlands and looks a bit like the shape of a turkey's tail! Many Birch polyphores (Piptoporus betulinus) were seen around the reserve, I think they resemble cappucino's with thier white underneaths and cocoa sprinkled tops. They are also known as Razor Strop fungus, as when dried they were traditionally used to sharpen razor's. The aptly named dead man's fingers fungi (Xylaria polymorpha) was found on a log pile near the pond, the name is quite obvious when you see it as it looks like a black finger. Another unusual name was a type of slime mould (Myxomycota), called dog's vomit that was found on the grass near our willow weevil sculpture. Slime mould is not thought to be a fungus at all, but a protista and is said to take on an almost animal like form and move around! However, I think the best name of the day had to go to the unusually named puffball, the wolf-fart (Lycoperdon pyriforme). If you have ever accidentally trodden on a puffball you will understand where the name may have come from!
For the full species list found on the fungal hunt yesterday please got to Dave's excellent website: http://www.fungalpunknature.co.uk/CFG/Sightings11.html . I have included a few photos from the day beneath, but nothing quite captures the smells, sounds and textures as well as actually getting out on the reserve yourself and discovering nature first hand. It's not too late to get out and see these amazing organisms for yourself, as we found yesterday there is still plenty to see.
Fungalpunk Dave and the intrepid group of fungal hunters
Fly agaric
Dave holding a stinkhorn
Turkeytail
Birch polyphore (razor strop)
Dog's vomit, slime mould