Magic mushrooms

FUNGI BRING THE rub-your-eyes, Alice-inWonderland vibe to the autumn show, appearing ta-da from nowhere in a cast of curious costumes that can look like land-stranded corals, alien limbs, jellied ears or cups which elves might sup from. They are fascinatingly contradictory – some are edible, others are poisonous, some cure disease, others cause it – and we are still learning about this mysterious kingdom of 1.5 million species globally.

What you see is the fruiting body – down in the soil, thin hollow hyphae twine with the roots of plants and trees to channel nutrients and messages in a network known as the Wood Wide Web. Forest is a favourite habitat for fungi, but they grow everywhere from mountains to sand dunes, their toadstools and puffballs lured onto stage by autumn’s damp days, and best seen before the first frosts crumple their eye-catching outfits.

WALK HERE: Fungi pop up across the land, with hotspots at Wiltshire’s Savernake Forest, Newborough Warren on the Isle of Anglesey and Abernethy Forest in the Cairngorms – find guides at walk1000miles.co.uk/bonusroutes

DON’T EAT ME Fly agaric is the classic red and white toadstool of children’s tales, but it’s toxic, so don’t be tempted by a hookah-smoking caterpillar to eat it, as Alice was. PHOTO: TOM BAILEY