2001 - A Good Year for Toadstools ?

We can probably take it for granted that all members of our Society appreciate the importance of recording the distribution and abundance of the plants and animals in our region. However, do we all appreciate the difficulty of doing so? For example, how do we decide what is "rare"? This was brought home to me at the "fungus foray" at Brandon Country Park on 6th October which, incidentally, was very poorly attended by our Members - who then joined a large group of local people and their children with the same interest and had a wonderful afternoon, for this has been an extremely good autumn for fungi.

Many fungi were found in exceptional abundance. For example, it would have been possible to gather a dozen or more Earth Stars (Geaster triplex) without leaving the marked trail. What particularly impressed me was a ring of Bird's Nest Fungi (Cyathus striatus), less than 100 yds. from the car park and Information Centre. They formed a tightly-packed ring about 75cm. across and at least 18cm. wide, on bare soil and leaf litter, surrounded by beech and other trees. There were other patches of these fungi nearby, but the cups were dark brown, wet, and far from obvious. (n.b. a note on Bird's Nest Fungi appeared in Trans.Suffolk Nat.Soc.(1990) 26, 80-81. )

Roger Phillips (1981) calls this Bird's Nest Fungus "uncommon", but samples were taken from the ring and my wife calculated that there were approximately 7,500 Bird's Nest Fungi - just in the ring. So, is it an uncommon fungus? As the cups are not more than 8mm across, often much less when tightly packed together, and less than 10mm high, they would not be easy to see even if they were not the tawny colour of twigs and soil and coated with 'hairs' which obscure their outline. I think I can recall every occasion on which I have found Bird's Nest Fungi, and how many of us look for them anyway?

On looking at this ring of Bird's Nest Fungi five days later (by which time they were looking rather "tired" ) Eleanor found another species of bird's nest only a few yards away. There were a few tiny golden-brown Nidularia farcata growing on a twig. These are only a few mm across and break open irregularly to expose reddish-brown "eggs". Phillips calls these "rare" and, somewhat unnecessarily in view of their size, as "not edible".

By chance, within a few yards of the Bird's Nest Fungi on 6th October there was a group of the Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus) which had been trampled upon but probably consisted of at least a dozen. Phillips (1981) calls them "occasional", and I had never seen more than three specimens together in Thetford Chase, and often gone a year without seeing a single specimen. Probably "occasional" is the correct description for these stinkhorns in Thetford Chase. They are only about l0cm high and can easily be missed. A great many other fungi were recorded that afternoon.

Having stressed how difficult it is to find out how abundant fungi really are -they may have a short season and the fruiting bodies generally only last a few days, we can at least make a start by recording their distribution. However, identification often requires an expert, examination of their spores, and perhaps a chemical test, so people such as I with limited knowledge unusally have to stick to the easily recognised and relatively common species. But a fungus foray usually results in something to eat as a reward for the effort, and invariably a pleasant walk in the woods.

Geoff Heathcote

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