The Shroom Room

I am perhaps one of the few people who, upon hearing it was going to rain all day today, jumped for joy. My husband and I had planned to go for a walk through the woods today as soon as we heard it was going to rain. What better way to celebrate the start of mushroom season than by looking for them in prime conditions? We weren't disappointed either, as we found many species poking through the woodland, including the Collared Parachute , or Marasmius rotala. These babies are even smaller than the Twig Parachutes that I wrote about a few weeks ago , so it's a miracle I even noticed them. Luckily, their distinctive white caps, though tiny, stood out amongst the greenery. There were quite a few groups of them growing on fallen twigs. Despite their small size, Collared Parachutes tend to have extremely long stems, some of which reach the length of 7cm. Needless to say, they are extremely fragile. They get their name from the way their gills attach. While most mushr

The fungal kingdom is fascinating in many ways, if not only because in the same step you can find a mushroom as big as your head, and one smaller than your finger. There is a whole world around us which we can't even begin to imagine, and it is quite special when you spot one of these tiny treasures. In my case, my latest tiny find was the Twig Parachute , or Marasmiellus ramealis. Had it not been for the sheer number of these mini mushrooms, I'm not sure I would have seen them. They were growing on a pile of fallen twigs - hence their name. Their caps are white with a pink tinge to them, and they are usually darker at the centre. They start out convex and become increasingly flattened over time. The curved stem becomes darker towards the base and their gills are white to pink in colour. Characteristics Habitat:  On twigs, usually old ones. Often in large groups. Cap:  3-10mm across, convex then flattened. White to pink in colour, darker at the

The start of mushroom season is finally upon us, and I couldn't be more excited. Although the bouts of rain weren't ideal for our wedding last week, they did mean lots of exciting finds during our honeymoon, walking through damp North Wales. I will no doubt make many posts about the intriguing finds we stumbled across during our time away, but I wanted to start at our first fungal encounter, the Dung Roundhead , or Stropharia semiglobata. Scattered across the huge pastures we were walking through were hundreds of them. And though the name suggests they grow exclusively on dung, the majority of them were in fact beside dung. The gills are adnate and ranged in colour depending on the age of the mushroom. Younger ones had a more purplish tinge to them, while the more mature species had black gills. The spore print is a dark purplish-brown colour. Characteristics Habitat:  On or beside dung, usually in pasture. Cap:  1-3cm across, hemispherical. Cream to ye

We've been having beautiful weather here in Cardiff, and whilst it's been lovely to sit and eat lunch in the garden, it hasn't been the best conditions for mushrooms. So, when it rained for an entire day yesterday, I was excited at the prospect of finding more fungi. And as I ventured out with a friend today, fungi were exactly what I found. Dotted around on dead wood were lots of Common Jellyspot , or Dacrymyces stillatus. Yellow or orange in colour and shaped like round blobs, Common Jellyspot grows on dead wood throughout the year. As the name suggests, if you touch it, it has a jelly-like consistency. It is quite common for multiple blobs to fuse together to form bigger, more abstract shapes. Characteristics Habitat:  On dead wood, including fences Fruit body:  2-5mm across, yellow to orange in colour, in small blobs which often merge. Gelatinous to touch but harder when dry. Spore print:  White Season:  All year Edibility: Inedible Now you kno

Going for a walk on a weekday is really rather peaceful, as everyone is at work. It can feel like you have a whole section of the world to yourself, like your own little secret. That's how I felt today walking down the Rhymney Trail . There were loads of birds and dragonflies about, but other than that, I was pretty much by myself. It wasn't until I was on my way back that I found any mushrooms. I came slightly off the path to look at a pile of fallen trees and, just as I was about to give up, I spotted a cluster of mushrooms, nearing the end of their life. It's been really dry the last couple of days, so it's likely they ran out of moisture. When I looked to the floor next to me, I saw some more poking out of the ground. They looked similar to a cluster I'd found in March, which I'd only recently identified. I went home to make a spore print and look at my old pictures, and concluded that these elderly fungi were Pale Brittlestems , or Psa

Lately I've been seeing mushrooms pop up all over the place, which of course excites the little nerd inside of me. Unfortunately, most of the time when I've seen a cluster of mushrooms, I've been on the bus and, being as awful at directions as I am, I can never remember where I saw them. Such is life. Today I spotted a couple peeking out from the grass not far from where I found the Milky Conecaps last month. In fact, at first glance I thought that's what they might be. However, it was the afternoon and we hadn't had any rain since yesterday, plus their caps weren't quite long enough. I like to describe Milky Conecaps as looking like almost-closed umbrellas. Instead, these mushrooms looked like tiny hats. So I snapped some pictures, put one in my bag and went on my way. Although they turned out not to be Milky Conecaps, they are still somewhat closely related. These small buddies are called Common Conecaps , or Conocybe tenera. They enjoy simil