Saturday 24 September - EFOG Fungi Hunt

A mild and sunny autumn morning saw a group of us following local naturalist Tricia Moxey into Bury Wood (part of Epping Forest) to look for fungi - a follow-up to her recent Thursday night talk at EFOG.

EFOG Fungi recognition Examining some parasols - found felled!Skirting the edge of the wood at the start, we admired the dark blue sloes on the blackthorn and some late butterflies as well as a newly-arrived species of the bright yellow-flowered ragwort - Narrow-leaved Ragwort. Then we were in the wood where, despite the dry weather, Paul quickly found our first fungus beside a hornbeam tree. We were soon spotting them with ease: hidden singly or grouped in the long grass, growing in a troop on tree stumps and fallen logs, and even high up on still living trees. There were puff balls, amethyst deceiver, parasol and bracket fungi, to name just a few - mainly small but in a wide variety of colours and textures.

The picking of fungi is not allowed in Epping Forerst, but we were happy to just look and marvel, leaving them intact for the benefit of the wildlife. Not only do many fungi enjoy a symbiotic relationship with their chosen tree species, but they also benefit many wild creatures. Indeed we learnt that at some times of the year fungi are the principal food source for the deer of Epping Forest. However, it is usually possible to find some that have been half-eaten by animals or simply knocked over, so we were able to examine these more closely.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable morning from which we all came back a little more knowledgeable than before. Many thanks Tricia!

Susan B., October 2011

As was mentioned above, we looked at a few aspects of wildlife other than fungi. The Narrow-leaved Ragwort supplements the two other common species of ragwort in the area: Common Ragwort, which is native and Oxford Ragwort which originates from the slopes of Mount Etna. The "new" one comes from southern Africa, and in 1997 was known only from one site in Kent. We also looked at some duckweed whilst Tricia was telling us about the horse-trough by Bury Wood! The butterflies that we saw were Meadow Brown, Small Copper, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Paul Ferris, October 2011

Tricia has sent us a list of the fungi which we found:

List of fungi noticed during EFOG walk on 24 September 2011 Bury Wood Chingford. These are listed in order of observation.

English name	Latin name	Comments
Oak mildew	Erysiphe alphitoides	White powdery covering on oak leaves – noticed, but not mentioned to walkers
Brown Roll Rim	Paxillus involutus	Under Hornbeam tree – symbiotic fungus – not edible
Puff ball	Lycoperdon pyriforme	Small puff balls scattered on the ground
Ochre Brittle Gill	Russula ochruleuca	Symbiotic toadstools associated with broad leaved trees
Purple Brittle Gill	Russula atropurpurea	ditto
Amethyst Deceiver	Laccaria amethystina	Small lilac coloured edible toadstool in leaf litter
Fairy Bonnet	Mycena inclinata	Clustered on dead wood – slightly woolly at base of stipe
Candle Snuff	Xylaria hypoxylon	Black fingers sticking up on dead wood
Sulphur Tuft	Hypholoma fasciculare	Yellow troops of toadstools on rotting wood
Blushing Bracket	Daedaleopsis confragosa	Bracket on dead wood which turns pink when squashed
Orange Moss Cap	Rickenella fibula	Very small orange toadstool amongst moss on rotting log
Zoned Polypore	Trametes versicolor	Small overlapping brackets on dead wood with concentric rings of different colours
Deceiver	Lacaria laccata	Small brown toadstool in leaf litter
Puff Ball	Lycoperdon perlatum	On rotting wood, white at first covered with warts which fall off as it matures
Charcoal Brittle Gill	Russula cyanoxantha	Dark grey
Big Jim Spectacular Rustgill	Gymnopilus junonius	Parasitic tufted fungus on roots of broadleaved trees – large orange toadstools
Shaggy Bracket	Inonotus hispidus	Large bracket on Ash tree , which causes internal decay in trunk

There were probably many more to be found, but I guess that was sufficient to the session! We could have spent longer searching, but the dry conditions not to mention the general scuffing of the ground does make finding any toadstools a bit of a challenge!

In addition we looked at a couple of lichens, which I think were Hypogymnia physodes clustered on twig and the other more dangly foliose one was Evernia prunastri

Tricia Moxey, October 2011

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