Gordon Crutchfield led a fungus foray in Nettlebed Woods on Sunday 2nd November. After the driest September on record and a mild October, the fungus season was running very late, but recent rain had brought out an abundance of fungi and there was so much to look at that it took a long time to move any distance from the cars. Commonest species was the Butter Cap Collybia butyracea, which emerged in lines from the Beech litter. Other early finds included the pale yellow False Death Cap Amanita citrina, pink Rosy Bonnet Mycena rosea, purple Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea with widely spaced gills and the Red Cracking Bolete Boletus chrysenteron. Two species with particularly slimy caps were the Ivory Woodwax Hygrophorus eburneus and the Beech Milkcap Lactarius blennius. A striking greenish-grey fungus was the Aniseed Funnel Clitocybe odora. Gordon demonstrated how the stem of Saffrondrop Bonnet Mycena croccata exudes an orange-staining liquid.
The party headed deeper into the woods, but soon realised that there was a greater variety of fungi closer to the road, perhaps caused by extra moisture splashed up by passing cars. The most unusual find of the afternoon was Lepiota ignivolvata, found near a tree stump, which had an orange band on the ring round the stem. Next to a fallen log were a number of Wood Blewits Lepista nuda, which would have been good to eat when younger. A number of large yellow slugs were seen during the afternoon and some were feeding on the fungi. Several clumps of the densely-branched Upright Coral Ramaria stricta were found, with pale yellow tips to the brownish-fingers. The walk continued to the far edge of the wood, where Scaly Earthball Scleroderma verrucosum and the orange Larch Bolete Suillis grevillei were amongst the finds.
Pictures by Laurie Haseler
RDNHS Fungus Foray to Nettlebed Woods 2-11-14 at SU704857
Fungus species:
| Clitocybe odora | Aniseed Funnel |
| Helvella crispa | White Saddle |
| Mycena pura | Lilac Bonnet |
| Laccaria amethystina | Amethyst Deceiver |
| Mycena rosea | Rosy Bonnet |
| Entoloma rhodopolium | Wood Pinkgill |
| Mycena vitilis | Snapping Bonnet |
| Boletus chrysenteron | Red Cracking Bolete |
| Hygrophorus eburneus | Ivory Woodwax |
| Clitocybe nebularis | Clouded Funnel |
| Russula nobilis | Beechwood Sickener |
| Hebeloma crustuliniforme | Poison Pie |
| Ganoderma australe | Southern Bracket |
| Collybia dryophila | Russet Tough-shank |
| Lactarius blennius | Beech Milkcap |
| Coprinus plicatilis | |
| Amanita citrina | False Death Cap |
| Mycena galericulata | Common Bonnet |
| Lycoperdon perlatum | Common Puffball |
| Pluteus cervinus | Deer Shield |
| Collybia butyracea | Butter Cap |
| Xylaria hypoxylon | Candlesnuff Fungus |
| Crepidotus variabilis | Variable Oysterling |
| Agaricus silvaticus | Blushing Wood Mushroom |
| Mycena pelianthina | Blackedge Bonnet |
| Lactarius subdulcis | Mild Milkcap |
| Tricholoma sulphureum | Sulphur Knight |
| Russula ochroleuca | Common Yellow Russula |
| Mycena crocata | Saffrondrop Bonnet |
| Auricularia auricola-judae | Jelly Ear |
| Lycoperdon pyriforme | Stump Puffball |
| Lepiota ignivolvata | |
| Russula nigricans | Blackening Brittlegill |
| Hypholoma fasciculare | Sulphur Tuft |
| Tricholoma argyraceum | |
| Lepista nuda | Wood Blewit |
| Heterobasidion annosum | Root Rot |
| Ramaria stricta | Upright Coral |
| Laccaria laccata | Deceiver |
| Psathyrella conopilus | Conical Brittlestem |
| Macrolepiota procera | Parasol Mushroom |
| Scleroderma verrucosum | Scaly Earthball |
| Tremella mesenterica | Yellow Brain |
| Collybia peronata | Wood Woolly-Foot |
List by Renée Grayer