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The dry spell for much of southern of England has ended, and I have been seeing quite a bit of fungi springing up. Mindful of the possibility of night frosts killing off what fungi are currently on show I thought I would make a return trip to Ebernoe Common in West Sussex.

Any regular visitor to this blog will know that I have adopted fungi as my 'new passion' this autumn and have managed to progress from a complete mushroom novice to a partial mushroom novice. I'm slowly getting to the point where I can find a place in the field guide where the mushroom that I am looking at will be found (at least to a family - but not all the time!). I can appreciate the need to note cap, gill and stipe colour, texture, and form, plus to take in what the fungi is growing on and the habitat that I'm in (that last point is the easiest to answer...)

I was lucky to bump into a knowledgable mycologist in the middle of the afternoon who was helpful in helping me identify some species that I was struggling to put a name to. He also tempered my increasing sense of competence by warning me of 'juvenile' stages to fungi, and pointed out that my hefty guide contained only 'some' of the species that I would find...gulp!! Help may be at hand with the publication of a guide (Buczacki and Shields) early next year that claims to cover every macro species of mushroom in Europe.

How did I fare? Well, I was happy to identify 23 new species, including such obvious ones such as Purple Jellydisc, Wood Blewit, Scarlet Waxcap, Parrot Waxcap (pictured), Snowy Waxcap, Magpie Inkcap, Garlic Parachute, Giant Funnel, Amethyst Deceiver, Glistening Inkcap and Shaggy Parasol.

With a few other additions since my last post, my pan-species list now stands at 2990. My aim to reach 3000 by the years end should be attainable. Even if I do not go out into the field again in 2010, I have a folder of 'mystery' photographs sitting on the computer awaiting my scrutiny, all taken during the summer and autumn. Surely I can turn some of these into firm identifications.

Comments

Anonymous said…
C`mon Steve. Find those 10 other species.
14 November 2011 at 12:35
Steve Gale said…
Cheers Dean, I might need you to come down and help...
14 November 2011 at 18:23
Anonymous said…
"I might need you to come down and help..."
....don`t tempt me, Steve. Oh, and well done on the 5 extra additions. Only 5 more needed. Fingers crossed.
16 November 2011 at 16:06
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