The most beautiful bouquet of Killerton Waxcaps
Killerton is one of my favourite National Trust places in Devon. It’s one of the ones which was sold to the National Trust, rather than partially given as a tax avoidance measure with the family lingering on like ghosts still using the property. Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet sold it, despite the reservations of his family, as he believed in public ownership of land, was a Labour MP and one of the founders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It’s replete with fungi in season. I’ve had some lovely finds there, although why I was lying on the ground taking photographs of phallic shapes in the bushes took a bit of explaining:
The meadows are untreated which has allowed fungi to flourish unseen, creeping their slow way through the natural nutrients in the soil. Killerton has been particularly good for Waxcaps in the past:
Today is a new species for me:
It’s Hygrocybe intermedia, the Fibrous Waxcap. It’s classed as “uncommon to occasional”.
I pick just one and take it to our group members, the Devon Fungus Group, which appears to be fruiting nicely, having multiplied unseen during lockdown. I’ve never seen as many members.
It really is the most beautiful bouquet.
More Waxcaps
A date with Waxcaps A trip to Somerset to see my friend Martin had the unintended bonus of a walk and a crop of… read more
Cycling past Waxcaps I'm cycling on Dartmoor when I see a Blackening Waxcap, Hygrocybe conica. It's always a thrill so spot one, so… read more
One of Britain’s rarest fungi So you think it doesn't look like much? I think it looks fabulous. It's growing in the short grass around… read more
Blackening Waxcaps There's a Blackening Waxcap, Hygrocybe conica, on the moist, shady roadside verges of the industrial estate. It's a beautiful colour.… read more
Waxcaps on the wane We're on a trip to north Devon, near Lynmouth, on an organised fungus foray. I'm particularly excited about the grassland… read more
Waxcaps Waxcap fungi thrive on damp, 'unimproved' grassland, or rather grassland which hasn't be ruined by artificial fertiliser or herbicides. A… read more
Pink Ballerinas cavorting in the grass If there are pink ballerinas on your lawn they could be one of only two things: 1. Actual ballerinas, dressed… read more
Crimson Waxcaps Waxcaps live in unimproved grassland. That means they are often only found in graveyards as the rest of the grassland… read more
Waxcaps in the meadows There are Waxcaps in the meadows in Devon: Meadow Waxcaps. I'm looking through some old photographs of fungi and see… read more