The Annual Fungus Foray

On 20th October the Wren Group Fungus Foray in Bush Wood was led – as is traditional – by Tricia Moxey. Fortunately the timing was impeccable and the walk took place between two bands of heavy rain, meaning that although the forest was appropriately damp to be looking for fungi the people were not and the occasional shafts of sunlight made the forest a beautiful place to be on a Sunday morning. As always when Tricia leads a walk it was both informative and entertaining for the 25 people (and one dog) who attended. There were, however, distinctly fewer fungi than on the same walk, in the same area at about the same time last year. For example, where last year there was a carpet of Brown Deceivers this year there were only a few and where, under some trees, there had been a large number of Cloudy Agaric, this year there were none. In part this was because the grass had not been cut and was therefore long and hence effective in hiding fungi, but otherwise the reason is unclear. However, still they ranged from the very small Eyelash fungus to a large bracket fungus. There were also Brown Deceivers and Funnelcaps as well as a number of others that Tricia identified. Altogether, it made a most enjoyable walk.

David Giddings

Bottom picture-Fairy bonnets by David Giddings , top picture – Candlesnuff fungus by David Giddings

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