Fabulous Fungi

This year has been amazing for the number and variety of fungi appearing in the last few months. As a result, my runs have been taking much longer than usual as I keep spotting amazing new ones every time I go for a run! I'm no expert and only know the names of a small number for certain but I really want you to see some of them in all their glory.

Warning, this is a very photo-heavy post!

This one fascinated me as there were twigs growing through it so it must have been there for a while.

There were several of the next one growing in our orchard grass and one was caught by the mower so we got to see the underside of it:

What an amazing structure!

A Shaggy Inkcap

And again a few days later as it starts to deliquesce

It's wonderful to see the gills on the underside of the cap

This one looks rather like a large seashell!

Spotted along Lordine Lane

Spotted alongside Lordine Lane (I had to climb through a patch of brambles to get to it!)

I found this growing on one of our piles of woodchips. It has the rather unattractive common name of 'Dog Vomit Slime Mould'!

The next few are all Parasols and we've had them throughout both our fields. I've never seen so many!

Spotted in the grass behind our barn

This one looked as if it was bleeding!

Here are some beauties taken in Sempstead Wood over a few days:

In Sempstead Wood there were loads of Parasols but unfortunately my photo didn't show them off well enough.

 

I think they look like Sea Urchins

Growing on a rotting log 

I absolutely adore this pure white bracket

This log was fascinating as it with covered in beautiful moss with a frilly bracket fungus plus a white mould which looked rather like cauliflower florets.

The next few are from Stumblotts wood which is partly deciduous partly pine and has been logged heavily this year leaving lots of open spaces. Nature abhors a vacuum so I'm excited to see what comes to life next year now the tree canopy has been thinned out. Seed can lie dormant for many years so I'm anticipating a good show in Spring/Summer 2018.

Perfect 'Puffballs'!

I love the different shades of red/orange of this Fly Agaric which has been nibbled by something!

I've never seen so many Fly Agaric in one place before.

This one was attracting a lot of interest from small flies

I photographed this next one over the course of a few days to see how it developed. It was growing near a large Oak tree in our garden but was quite different from the Boletus which usually grow along the line of its roots.

It made a tasty snack for a slug and some small flies!

The woodman's pile of logs in the village always provides lots of photo opportunities throughout the winter months but he's just added more new logs so I've only spotted one so far:

Road verges are always a good hunting ground and these were spotted just outside the village:

This bracket fungus has been appearing at the same time each year for at least 7 years. With Mike's hand for scale.

The structure is amazing in close-up.

This beauty only lasted a few days before dying back. It looks like the petals of a flower! With my running shoe for scale.

Honey anyone? These next photos will strike fear into the heart of a gardener but Honey Fungus is just doing what it's supposed to do - help the rotting process!

The rotting stump of a dying Cherry tree which was cut down 14 years ago.

There were lots of small flies crawling all over them.

This is a beautiful example of decay in action! This is the remains of a diseased pear tree we cut down about 10 years ago. Mike attached some brackets to the tall stump and we hang bird feeders from them.

The whole tree trunk is teaming with insect life.

The next ones were found behind the barn either in mown grass or along the field margin:

This beauty was about 3" across

These next ones were really tiny, no bigger than my thumbnail and I had to lie on the ground to get close-ups.

These conical ones reminded me of the counters in Coppit. I've still got the game from my childhood!

I can't remember where I took this next photo but I think it might have been on the verge near the woodsman's yard.

If you've made it this far, well done for your perseverance and I hope you enjoyed the photos!