Piggy Cows
Suillus bovinus means Piggy Cow. It’s the scientific name of a common fungus of coniferous forests and commercial pine woods. They pop up everywhere you tread in the right habitat for them.
Their colour is very distinctive.
They have a parasitic fungus which grows with them, Gomphidius roseus, which I’ve never found. That means no matter how many times I see a Piggy Cow I still look closely at them on the off chance there’ll be a rosy coloured parasite growing near them.
Not today, but I’ll keep looking.
More Fungi
Cry “God for Harry, England and St George’s Mushrooms.” Tomorrow is St George's day, which is an important day in my calendar. That's not because I'm particularly nationalistic, swept… read more
Dead Man’s Fingers It's cold on Dartmoor but it's always worth making it to Fingle Bridge. I'm looking forward to a pint in… read more
A Red Belted Conk There's the familiar orange-red band on this Red Belted Conk. Lovely, isn't it? Its scientific name is Fomitopsis pinicola. It… read more
Purple Curtain Crust I do love a good fungusy twig. Here's one with Purple Curtain Crust, Chondrostereum purpureum, rippling on it like a… 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
Yellow fingers grow from the short sward There are apricot-yellow fingers of fungus growing in the short sward at Emsworthy Mire. Fabulous, aren't they? They are the… read more
Deadly Here's a fungus you should learn to identify if you're interested in foraging and eating wild fungi. It's the Deadly… read more
Orange Peel Fungus Orange Peel Fungus, Aleuria aurantia, is unmistakable. Just look at it: I've written about it before, and posted beautiful illustrations… read more
Pine-cone Bonnet The Pine-cone Bonnet, Mycena seynii, is a beautiful fairy-bonnet cap which grows on pine cones. It's so beautiful I wish… read more