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Fungi

Dead Man's Fingers - Xylaria polymorpha - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

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 the pub …

Red Belted Conk - Fomitopsis pinicola - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

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 cheers me …

Purple Curtain Crust - Chondrostereum purpureum - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Purple Curtain Crust

I do love a good fungusy twig. Here’s one with Purple Curtain Crust, Chondrostereum purpureum, rippling on it like a cuttlefish. Don’t …

Deadly Webcap - Cortinarius rubellus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Deadly

Here’s a fungus you should learn to identify if you’re interested in foraging and eating wild fungi. It’s the Deadly Webcap, Cortinarius …

Orange Peel Fungus - Aleuria aurantia - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Orange Peel Fungus

Orange Peel Fungus, Aleuria aurantia, is unmistakable. Just look at it: I’ve written about it before, and posted beautiful illustrations of it …

Mycena seynii - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

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 I’d brought …

Spectacular Rustgill - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spectacular Rustgill

There’s a strange group of fungi on this dead tree stump in the grounds of Exeter University. I’m out again on a …

Rhodocollybia maculata - Spotted Toughshank - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Spotted Toughshanks

There are fungi I don’t recognise in the woods. They look as if they’ve been given a little too much bicarbonate of …

Black Bulgar - The Hall of Einar

Black Bulgar Pontefract cakes

How many people know what Pontefract cakes are? Surely not just people who live in Yorkshire? Maybe some people who live in …

Scarlet Caterpillar Club - The Hall of Einar

Scarlet Caterpillar Club

Here’s a thrill. It’s the pupa of a moth, which has been been infected with a fungus called Scarlet Caterpillar Club, Cordyceps …

Shaggy Inkcaps - Coprinus comatus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A Shaggy Inkcap story

I’ve been enjoying looking through this 1947 copy of Edible and Poisonous Fungi from 1947. It has one of my favourite edible …

Egghead Mottlegill - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Egghead Mottlegill

There’s a beautiful domed fungus on this lump of poo on Dartmoor. Naturally I have to pick it up and have a …

Dog Stinkhorn - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Dog Stinkhorns

Dog Stinkhorns, Mutinus caninus, aren’t easy to find. It’s not just that they like growing in overgrown areas, it’s that they don’t …

Boletus edulis - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Big Boletes

To find wild mushrooms at their peak you really need to visit a likely spot for them every three days. As they’re …

Beefsteak Fungus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The oaks have tongues

We’re on an organised fungus foray with the Devon Fungus Group when our leader spots a Beefsteak Fungus, Fistulina hepatica, on a …

Chanterelles - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Chanterelles

When life gives you apricot-scented fungi, you’ve found Chanterelles.

Suillus bovinus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

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 …

Sulphur Tuft - Wistman's Wood - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Sulphur Tuft

They’re an unearthly yellow colour. They sprout at the bases of decaying trees. They grow in tufts and tight bundles. They are …

Macrolepiota procera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Autumn Parasols

One of the exciting finds at Killerton on our fungus foray with the Devon Fungus Group is a Parasol Mushroom. Our leader …

Calocybe gambosa - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

St George is late to the rescue

Have you noticed the weather. There’s a possibility that you’re reading this in the UK, so it’s likely that you’re similarly obsessed …

Jelly Ear Fungus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Elder jellies

I’m tramping through scrub on a path used by dog walkers and alienated teenagers. It’s only rubbish which catches my eyes and …

Scleroderma - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Staying local

In the first lockdown it was revealing just how much nature was all around me. I didn’t need to spend ages preparing …

Deconica coprophila - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The riches of Dartmoor dung

There’s something about dung which should worry you. In my childhood the local fields of animals had rich dung pats, full of …