A Fungi Foray in Lancashire

A gentle wander around a favourite place turned into a voyage of discovery for our Trust's Vice-Chair, Hazel Ryan...

Earlier in April, I decided to take advantage of one of the (very rare) dry days for a stroll around a small patch of land close to my home. This little slice of heaven has been very important to me over recent years.

In the 1970s, it was originally a small field grazed by sheep. It was then acquired by a small group of neighbours, and planted up with a mix of native and ornamental shrubs and trees. As time has gone on, wind and weather have taken their toll and nature has taken over. It is a mix of open and wooded space, and takes about 15 minutes to walk around in a bit of a circle.

I set off to clear my head after yet another damp and gloomy spell – my thinking was to look for some signs of spring – early flowers coming through to brave the damp and the chill. My first sight was of a bank of celandines. This sunny star-shaped bright yellow flower brightens up the day.

It has glossy heart-shaped leaves and loves damp woodland, so is absolutely at home in the woodlands of Lancashire. It is one of the first flowers to open after winter so is very important to early flying insects and pollinators. As you can tell, I am a big fan, and not the only one. Wordsworth wrote a poem called To the small Celandine.

I carried on looking for early wildflowers, but my attention was drawn to something I had never seen before. I spotted a type of fungus on some small twigs. It looked like a group of fairies had been having a tea party, cleared away the cups and left behind the saucers! This was my very first sight of what I later found out to be a small oysterling. The proper name of the species is Crepidotus, and there are three types but my photo was not sufficient to identify which one (more about identification later).

This discovery took my walk in a whole new direction. I love looking for wild flowers, but I thought it is time for me to come out of my “comfort zone” and search for something different. My little journey of exploration had begun!

A little further on, I found something coming out of a piece of wood stood up against an old shed. It was as big as my hand, looked rather large and leathery. This turned out to be a bracket fungus. It was Daedaliopsis confragosa or Blushing Bracket. Its golden pores blush pink when rubbed.

It is found most often living on Willow near water, but the area of the shed was very damp. The specimen I had found was on old one. They go the lovely ruby red shown in the photograph when very mature.

Witch's butter fungi on a branch — Witch's butter

My next discovery was very different. Something bright orange leapt out from a bunch of ornamental bramble and rose twigs. This was later identified as Tremella mesenterica, also known as Witches Butter. It is a common jelly fungus, also looks a bit like the folds of a brain. Another interesting fact about this fungus is that it is parasitic – it is a parasite on Peniophora crust fungus, which is the actual fungus that breaks down the dead wood.

I have been trying to find out more about the link to witches, and the story that I found is that if Witches Butter appeared on the gate of a house, it meant that a witch had cast a spell on the family living there (and then the fungus had to be destroyed to break the spell). I don’t know if a spell had been cast on my special little wood, but I left the lovely looking fungus alone!

The photo of my final discovery was not good enough to identify the fungus concerned. I am very grateful to Ben Hargreaves, Lancs WT, who consulted on the fungi identification with Ken Gartside, naturalist mycologist. It really helps to get clear shots of the cap on the top, the stem of the fungus and the underside gills. Also, what is the fungus growing on? Does it have a particular smell? The more information, the better.

Of course, you should always treat fungi with caution and respect – there are a number of poisonous fungi out there, and some are very poisonous indeed and sometimes resemble others that are edible. The world’s most deadly fungus is probably the Death Cap, responsible for many fatal poisonings worldwide and common in the UK. So, please don’t touch or consume fungi unless you are being guided by an expert. Proper identification can be a challenge.

Finding fungi in my local wood has shown me how important they are in the grand scheme of things. They break down dead wood and other plant and animal matter. Their relationship with trees and woodland networks is fascinating and only just being understood. There are thousands of different types of fungi out there, so see if you can take your own voyage of discovery and have your own fungi foray to spot one or two near you.