MUSHROOM KINGDOM...
With autumn on the way, it’s the perfect time to keep your eyes peeled for some fabulous fungi
THERE’S less greenery to spot as autumn rumbles around, but keep your eyes open next time you’re out and you might spot some mushrooms.
Fungi love damp, warm days and thrive in forests and parks at this time of year. You can spot them on fallen logs, in the grass and even high in trees.
Here are a few of the UK’S most common varieties and where to find them. But remember, if you do see fungi, don’t pick them and definitely don’t eat them!
1. FLY AGARIC
It may look a little like a Mario mushroom, but this red and white toadstool won’t give you a power-up – it’s poisonous. This colourful character likes birch woodland where it helps trees by transferring nutrients to their roots.
2. AMETHYST DECEIVER
This small but beautiful purple mushroom is also known as the Red Cabbage Fungus. It grows in the leaf litter on the floor of evergreen and deciduous forests. As it ages, its purple colour fades and can turn white.
3. HEN OF THE WOOD
This frilly fungus can be found growing at the bottom of oak trees. Thanks to its size and feathery appearance, it looks like a small chicken lurking at the bottom of a tree. In Japan, it is known as maitake or ‘dancing mushroom’.
4. WOOD EAR
Be careful what you say in the forest… the trees have ears! This rubbery, gelatinous species grows on elder and other hardwood trees and looks like human ears. Preferring damp, shady conditions, it grows in clusters on dead and dying branches.
5. PUFFBALL
One of the largest fungi in the world, the puffball can grow to the size of a small sheep! As they age, these round, white mushrooms puff out clouds of dusty brown spores – there can be up to seven trillion in each one. They are found throughout the UK in grasslands and parks, often near stinging nettles.