Fungus Foray at Waggoners Wells, west end (National Trust)

Leader: Andy Swan (HNHS member)

Conditions were clearly good for fungi: the weather had been mild and damp for a while. Moving a short distance from the car park, many finds were made in an area that was usually quite unproductive: the list had 28 species before the main target area was reached. These included a statuesque example of Megacollybia platyphylla plus several that allowed us to sample a variety of aromas: the tarry Tricholoma sulphureum, the radishy Hebeloma sp. and, best of all, the camembert smell-alike Russula amoenolens, which has the new English name “Camembert Brittlegill”!

A short diversion to a large Beech tree yielded the delightfully shaggy Pholiota squarrosa, the colourful Caloboletus calopus and Leccinum versipelle (Orange Birch Bolete). We soon encountered the first of many Cortinarius pseudosalor, showing well why it has the new English name “Purple Stocking Webcap”.

Along the bottom of the valley, the outstanding fungal feature was the super-abundance of honey fungus, including both Armillaria mellea and the yellow-tinged A. lutea. There were reasonable numbers of mycorrhizal species belonging to genera such as Russula, Lactarius, Cortinarius and Tricholoma plus boletes (the best being a nice example of Xerocomellus porosporus), but the fungal displays on dead wood were probably more striking. There was a good range of Mycena species on stumps, including M. galericulata, M. vitilis, M. inclinata and, best of all, M. arcangeliana, with stems that showed a much stronger purplish tinge than usual.

The total number of identified species for the day was 54, which is reasonable but not exceptional. The conditions on this occasion seemed to favour abundance rather than diversity.