James reminds us to look out for fascinating fungi – great and small!
Autumn is fungi season and we’re all familiar with the archetypal mushroom as portrayed in cartoons and as sold in food shops.
When you are out for a walk, remember to look out for the more diverse species which can be found around Seaford, like the brightly coloured lobes of bracket fungi usually seen growing on trees (like the orange one pictured above, growing from a fallen tree).
Some tiny fungi species can be easy to miss without a magnifying glass – like the Mycena species pictured cohabiting with Brachythecium moss on a living tree branch. This ‘fairy bonnet’ style fungi is only a few millimetres tall and almost hidden in the moss!
If you like foraging for fungi, please remember that harvesting robs fungi of their spore dispensers (just as cutting wild flowers means fewer seeds dispersed for next year).
Some tiny fungi species can be easy to miss without a magnifying glass – like the Mycena species pictured cohabiting with Brachythecium moss on a living tree branch. This ‘fairy bonnet’ style fungi is only a few millimetres tall and almost hidden in the moss!
If you like foraging for fungi, please remember that harvesting robs fungi of their spore dispensers (just as cutting wild flowers means fewer seeds dispersed for next year).
James, Cradle Hill
