Cltocybe nebularis (Clouded Agaric) were numerous in the lane alongside Allerton Manor Golf Course. These large fungi grow in extensive rings and can be seen in most wooded areas. The literature describes them as edible but toxic to some people. It never says who might be susceptible or what the toxic effect is. I have never tried to find out nor do I know anyone who has.
Another common species is Lepista nuda (Wood Blewit), a fungus which, when young, is a beautiful blue-violet colour in the cap and gills. Photographed at Formby. Slightly less common is Lepista sordida (Sordid Blewit) which looks the same and can be difficult to tell apart. Blewits are edible and have a scented smell and taste. But they do contain a toxin that can only be removed by thorough cooking. I confess to having eaten them BUT they have ‘turned on me’ on two occasions so I now leave well alone. Interestingly, wood blewits are used to make a green fabric dye.
Flammulina velutipes (Velvet Shank) is happy even after being frozen. Common on stumps and dead wood on trees, a truly winter species. These are at Childwall Woods in Liverpool. Another species described as edible but the black stem is very tough and the thin cap is slimy. The literature warns against mistaking this fungus for the deadly Galerina marginata (Funeral Bell) whose season can overlap. Particularly now that season is extended due to weather being warmer.
Pleurotus ostreatus is the most common Oyster Mushroom that grows through winter. Colour can vary from off-white to brown and it can grow in large numbers on fallen trunks and dead trees. This is the species that you can buy in shops and grow your own from kits. Care is required when picking in the wild not to get wood splinters which can spoil any meal. I find the taste and texture a bit limp but an Italian chef in north Wales once served them to me cooked with garlic in a puff pastry case. Superb. This is a carnivorous fungus and preys on nematode worms to obtain nitrogen by paralyzing them with its hyphae, injecting the corpses, dissolving the contents and then consuming the ‘soup’. Photographed at Ainsdale.
Pleurotus dryinus (Veiled Oyster) is similar, often with a scaly cap but much tougher with a thick stem. These are growing on a Sycamore in the grounds of Garston Park Church.
Auricularia auricula-judae (Jelly Ear or Wood Ear) is very common on dead wood especially Elder. The name is said arise from the belief that Judas hanged himself from an Elder tree. It readily reconstitutes after being frozen or dried. It is sold as an edible, primarily in eastern food shops but for texture as it has no particular flavour. It can be bought as a culture to grow at home. It is also used for a range of medicinal purposes. In the wild there is a danger that the inexperienced could mistakenly collect one of the Peziza cup fungi that are poisonous.
Xylaria hypoxylon (Candlesnuff) appears throughout the year but more prevalent in late autumn and winter. This small flask fungus is one of the last species to attack rotting wood, after all other species have had their turn. Earlier fungi cause white rot and attack the lignum. This fungus digests the cellulose in wood causing a brown rot after which the wood begins to collapse.
Xylaria polymorpha (Dead Man’s Fingers) is another flask fungus. This attacks the substance that glues the cellulose and lignum together making the resultant debris available for insects to feed on. Together with Candlesnuff they just about finish the wood off. Xylaria polymorpha has a ‘partner’ Xylaria longipes (Dead Moll’s Fingers). This differs by having a thin stem.The spores are different. Both can be difficult to spot due to their colour but they are common everywhere. Both of these species are at the Eric Hardy Nature Reserve.
I do not encourage picking fungi to eat but the above information is available on the internet and in cookery books. Unfortunately these information sources are not always accurate or complete. They often fail to mention the toxins or the look-alike poisonous species. People in mainland Europe have a long tradition of collecting for the pot but many of them still manage to poison themselves, a fact not often reported. Be careful.
