Fungi in the Forest, with Janet and Jim Howell. Saturday 26th October 2024.
Janet Howell was in great form as she and Jim led a group of 20 in a search for fungi in Friston Forest. We met in the Forest Car Park and half an hour later were still there! To our amazement, there proved to be fungi everywhere. The group would take a few steps and then Janet’s eagle eyes would spot something so well camouflaged against the fallen leaves that the rest of us never noticed it.
Eventually we progressed into the main body of the wood, but even then we were frequently stopping to look at fungi. Our short walk took us along woodland paths and through the open areas beneath the beech trees. Janet and Jim astounded us with their knowledge of what is a vast subject, not only identifying the species, but showing us how they differentiated between different fungi.
We learned to look at the undersides to see if they had gills or pores, we looked for collars on the stipe and most important of all, we learned to see beauty in their shape and colouring.
The vernacular names of the fungi were a source of great interest and amusement; amongst other things, we found Lumpy Brackets, Burnt Knights, Candle Snuff, Crystal Brain and even a Poison Pie.
If the walk had purely been about identification then it would have been nice but not memorable, however Janet and Jim were able to give us so much more.
We learned about the roles of fungi in forests and their relationship to various trees, and we saw several examples of fungi becoming food for slugs. We learned about how they coped with drought, how they broke down the material on which they were found, and the different ways in which they spread their spores. We were shown the apical pore on the top of Puff Balls through which the spores explode, the gills and the pores on the underside of other species from which the spores dropped and even found a species of Ink Cap where the spores are carried in the liquid from the gills as they deliquesce.
This was an excellent walk, full of interest and humour and our thanks must go to Janet and Jim Howell for giving us such a good morning.
Marion Trew.
