All the wet weather recently has at least been good for one thing: mushrooms are popping up all over the place in the wood. Mushroom season has begun!
The lack of ground cover under the spruce means it is easy to spot lots of different mushrooms and there are plenty of types that seem to like growing there. My mushroom ID skills are still at the fairly basic stage but here are some photos of some interesting mushrooms I have seen recently with my guess of what they are.
Fortunately we have some good edible mushrooms in the mix. Ceps are starting to appear now, as are the beautifully coloured and delicious chanterelles (my favourite). Soon should appear the hedgehog mushrooms and later in the autumn the trumpet chanterelles (a.k.a. winter chanterelle), both of which grow abundantly under the spruce. Trumpet chanterelles are very tasty and also look quite pretty – brown with frilly caps and yellow stems. They don’t show up very well but once you spot one suddenly you start seeing lots more nearby!
The appearance of all these mushrooms is a reminder of the huge amount of life that exists out of sight in the soil. The mushrooms are simply the reproductive organs of the fungi that form extensive underground networks. Fungi play a fairly invisible yet crucial role in the woodland. As well as being very important for breaking down dead matter and returning nutrients to the soil, some fungi form associations with trees’ roots. This relationship is known as a mycorrhiza and is mutually beneficial (symbiotic). The fungi provide the trees with nutrients and minerals that they extract from the soil, while in return the fungi obtain sugars from the roots. It is fascinating to think about all that goes on beneath our feet in the woodland soil.
Whilst on the subject of the underground part of a woodland, here is a thought that came to me the other day: when we draw a picture of a tree we usually just draw the trunk, branches and leaves. We don’t draw the roots because you can’t see them. If a worm was to draw a picture of a tree, what would it draw?!
*Disclaimer* Please don’t use these photos for mushroom ID, especially if you are planning to eat your mushrooms, I may have got the names wrong!
If you are interested in mushroom ID I can recommend a couple of books. ‘Mushrooms’ by John Wright (River Cottage Handbook No. 1) is good for helping to identify the main edible species and the main poisonous ones, usefully indicating where an edible one could be confused with a poisonous one. It is also quite humourous and contains lots of interesting facts and some recipes. The other, by Roger Phillips, is also called ‘Mushrooms’. It is a substantial and comprehensive guide with plenty of photos and information for identification.
That’s an interesting array of fungi. My friend Nellie was particularly complementary about the Ceps;) We had a proliferation of stinkhorn this year…it was a bit like walking around a wood full of rotting sheep…not pleasant!
Good looking woods. We have about 40 acres of young Sitka too. I’m sure Nellie will keep me up to date as to how your management is progressing, but I’ll also keep an eye on the blog too.
All the best.
Liz C
Hello Liz, thank you for reading my blog and for your comment! I saw one stinkhorn in the wood earlier in the year. Some of the mushrooms we have at the moment also smell pretty bad when they start rotting. Yes the ceps were particularly prolific and tasty around the time Nellie visited!