Autumn Fungal Highlights of 2022 with Tony Carter

After the long, hot and dry weather it eventually rained. Then it forgot to stop. The season started late and was shorter than usual but there were some very numerous fruiting of certain species.

I managed to visit a number of sites despite the weather. These are the highlights. At the end of September I joined North West Fungus Group at Stanley Bank Wood, St Helens. We recorded 107 species including Gymnopilus junonius (Spectacular Rustgill).

Two days later I went Calderstones Park, the shrubbery at Harthill is very good for unusual species. Echinoderma jacobi and Echinoderma asperum (Freckled Dapperling) were the best finds, the latter also turning up at two other Liverpool Parks.

At the beginning of October I went to Rimrose Valley Country Park with Liverpool Botanical Society. This site is under threat from a proposed road to serve Liverpool Container Port. It is new woodland and all the fungi I recorded are species that decompose dead plant material. Notable was the large number of Inocybe geophylla, (fibrecap) both white and lilac and also Lyophyllum decastes (Clustered Domecap) on grassland.

The following week I joined Merseyside Naturalists to Lunt Meadows, a wetland reserve. The visit was mainly for the birders but for me a different ecosystem. I was pleased to find Coprinellus hiascens, an inkcap that is a marshland specialist.

There is also Alder woodland which supports fungi such as Naucoria escharioides (Ochre Aldercap) and Cortinarius parvannulatus (an uncommon webcap).

Acting on a tip off, On the 18th I went to Speke Hall. In the woods surrounding the car park a colleague had counted 78 Amanita phalloides (Death Cap), an inordinate number for a species that I have seen only once at Carr Mill. It is deadly but why anybody would believe it to be edible I cannot understand.

Also in the woods was a large number of Cantharellus tubaeformis (Trumpet Chanterelle).

In an obscure piece of scrub by the entrance I found a large fungal fruiting of Helvella lacunosa (Elfin Saddle).

I visited Croxteth Hall Country Park at the end of October. A strange foray because there was very little about except in Mull Wood where there were fungi everywhere. I recorded 40 species there but only 2 for the rest of the Park. Highlights were Pluteus aurantiorugosus (Flame Shield) and Coprinopsis spelaiophila, an Inkcap that grows in holes in wood, such as hollow trunks, a hard one to spot.

Very noticeable here and at most other sites were the large numbers of Bulgaria inquinans (Black Bulgar) having a very good year.

The 2nd November found me back at Speke Hall, the large North Lawn being an excellent area for grassland fungi. I was not disappointed. I recorded 20 different species. This included 6 waxcap species although the most interesting find was of dozens of Galerina clavata (Ribbed Bell), a species that only shows on old lawns after heavy rain. An uncommon Ramaria decurrens (Ochre Coral) was seen hiding under a yew hedge.

I did get to Rimrose Valley again on the 6th November, as assistant to a friend who was taking a public foray. It was very wet so 62 species was good. This included an uncommon Hemimycena hirsuta. The best find of the day of Schizophyllum amplum (Poplar Bells) went to a small girl who was very proud when told.

My next sighting was of dozens of Tricholoma scalpturatum (Yellowing Knight) on woodchip at an Aldi car park.

followed by a crowd of 70 Clitocybe amarescens on rotted manure on a rhubarb bed at my allotments. This species is a relative newcomer to the UK from Europe.

My next outing was on the 13th with North West Fungus Group to Ainsdale where the recorded total was 125 species. I was part of a splinter group who searched the dune grassland. Lots of finds. Of particular interest was Neottiella rutilans, a short turf specialist and Hygrocybe conicoides (Dune Waxcap)

The 19th, a beautiful day, found me at Freshfield Dune Heath They have been removing large areas of gorse, leaving large areas of bare sand. These have been quickly colonised by masses of Aleuria aurantia (Orange Peel). Amazing sight.

 I crossed over to Fisherman’s Path for my lunch in the pinewoods. Within arm’s reach of my pine stump seat, I recorded Strobilurus tenacellus (Pinecone Cap), Baeospora myosura (Conifercone Cap) and Auriscalpum vulgare (Earpick Fungi) on buried cones. I have never seen them all together before.

Two late visits to Stockton’s Wood and Hale woods were disappointing and a visit to Calderstones Park on the 30th produced nothing until I spotted a swarm of tiny fungi on a dead tree. I thought a slime mould but research came up with Phleogena faginea (Fenugreek Stalkball), so called because of the smell of fenugreek or curry when dried. New to me.

It is now well below freezing outside so could be the end for the time being.