Fungal Foray

Our Outing with Dave Bangs to Plashett's Wood

By Mouse Dismore

On a bright and breezy autumn day we went on this year's fungal foray. Plashett's Wood has wide paths, so we were able for the first time to take Alison in her wheelchair.

As usual Dave warned us we'd find nothing, and as usual we found enough to satisfy us amateurs, if not the man himself. One of the highlights for many was finding for the first time the Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, beloved of childrens' illustrators. This species is both highly toxic and unpleasantly hallucinogenic, so if you see one, don't mess with it!

Here is Dave's list of the species we found:

Plashett Wood BHOGG Fungal Foray 25th October 2009

Agaricus silvicola, Wood Mushroom (2 buttons) – under coppice

Amanita muscaria, Fly Agaric – under Birch ?

Armillaria species, Honey Fungus species – log pile

Calocera cornea, Small Stagshorn - log pile

Collybia dryophila, Russet Toughshank – under trees

Coprinus atramentarius, Common Inkcap – log pile

Coprinus disseminatus, Fairy Inkcap – on logs

Cyathus striatus, Fluted Bird’s Nest – under log pile

Entoloma porphyophaeum, Lilac Pinkgill – on grassy ride

Fistulina hepatica, Beefsteak Fungus – on log pile ?

Hebeloma species, Poison Pie species – on ride

Hygrocybe conica, Blackening Waxcap – on grassy ride

Hypholoma fasciculare, Sulphur Tuft – log pile ?

Inocybe geophylla, White Fibrecap – on ride, buttons only

Lacrymaria lacrymabunda, Weeping Widow - near log pile ?

Lactarius pubescens, Bearded Milkcap – under Birch and Pine on bank

Lactarius quietus, Oakbug Milkcap – under Oak ?

Lepiota species (like castanea), Dapperling species – under wood pile

Lycoperdon perlatus, Common Puffball – under coppice

Lycoperdon pyriformis, Stump Puffball – on logs

Macrolepiota rhacodes, Shaggy Parasol – under trees ?

Marasmiellus candidus, Parachute species – near log pile

Mycena pura, var. rosea – Rose Bonnet - under coppice and trees

Mutinus caninus, Dog Stinkhorn – log pile

Paxillus involutus, Brown Rollrim – on wood edge of ride ?

Pholiota flammans, Flaming Scalecap – on logs. 

Psathyrella piluliformis, Common Stump Brittlestem – log pile

Psilocybe cyanescens, Blueleg Brownie – log pile

Scleroderma citrinum, Common Earthball – on ride, under Birch

Suillus luteus, Slippery Jack – under Birch and Pine on bank

Trametes versicolor, Turkeytail – on logs  

31 species named

16 species were wood rotting fungi found on or under the log piles

89 species named in Plashett Wood over all three visits 2008 & 2009  

Comments I didn’t attempt to record the crusts, or small ephemeral species. As last year, the wood pile near the BTCV base proved the best spot for sheer bulk and numbers of fungi, with half our species count. My record for Pholiota flammans may be dodgy, but I found what I thought was the same species last week. Perhaps this erstwhile rare northern species is no longer so rare ?

The nicest woodland spot was on the ride bank under the Pine and Birch stand, with the Bearded Milkcap and Slippery Jack just coming on. That was the spot we found Primrose Brittlegill, Russula sardonia, last year. Pine, Birch and Beech are the best trees for their fungal flora. It was nice to find the two grassland species, Lilac Pinkgill and Blackening Waxcap. Neither are rare, but they do remind us of the importance of wide grassy rides in woodlands as refuges for old meadow species, whose habitat has been eliminated in most of the farmed countryside.

The Fluted Bird’s Nest was my favourite species. It has such perfectly formed imitations of bird’s nests with eggs. The Dog Stinkhorn is a great lookalike, too, and its ‘witches egg’ young stage looks very folkloric. The Blueleg Brownie, all over some logs, is apparently a very hallucinogenic species. I think it may only recently have been brought to Britain. Its stipe (stem) bruised green-blue, you may remember. We found scarcely any big gilled fungi - even less than last year. The only big splashes of autumn fungal colour were from Fly Agaric. Otherwise we found no Brittlegills, Russula, no Knights, Tricholoma, no Webcaps, Cortinarius, no Funnels, Clitocybe, only two Milkcaps, Lactarius, only one Amanita (Fly Agaric), one Boletus (Slippery Jack), and one possible Inocybe, White Fibrecap.

The pattern of the last six seasons has been as follows: - 2004, 5, & 6: very good indeed. 2007 & 8: very poor. 2009: extremely poor. The species numbers seen on the BHOGG forays have been as follows: 2006 (Stanmer Park): 44 species. 2007 (Blackbrook Wood): 51 species. 2008 (Plashett Wood): 48 species. 2009 (Plashett Wood): 31 species. The 2006 count would have been much higher if I had chosen a Wealden ancient woodland, rather than the Stanmer secondary woodland. A wood of this size and quality may well have over a thousand fungi. The season this year saw a very early flush of macro-fungi in early August, and another, smaller, flush in the second half of August. September was dry and hopeless, but the early October rain does not yet seem to have brought on a significant late flush, either.

Dave Bangs