The Shroom Room

Glistening inkcaps are my favourite winter mushrooms. When it seems cold, dark and wet every day, a glistening inkcap poking out of a log is sure to cheer you up. They are light and shimmery, like something magical. Even though I have so many pictures of them, I always stop to take more whenever I see them, because they truly brighten my day. A cluster on a log Members of the Coprinus family - also known as Inkcaps - are quite different from other species, because most of them "auto-digest". This means that towards the end of their life, their caps roll upwards, turning into an inky-black liquid, hence the name.  Inkcaps were the first family I was able to identify quickly, as they are rather unique and therefore difficult to confuse with other genera. It is possible, however, to confuse mushrooms within the genus, so as always it's best to go about identifying with an open mind and above all, caution. The gills are turning black, indicating the auto-

Winter is long.  And although spring is beginning to shine through the cracks, it's not exactly the most abundant time of year for mushrooms.  Over the last few months I have ventured into parks and woodland in search for signs of the few species that stick around for the colder weather, and though I have been pleasantly surprised on some occasions, it can feel disappointing to find so little after the autumn when mushrooms pop up everywhere you look. Imagine my surprise then, when I found a small cluster in my own garden! They were peeking out of a garden waste bag filled with soil, leaves and other debris. I was so excited about it that I actually did a little bit of a dance! I'd never seen this mushroom before, so I was anxious to get stuck into identifying what it was. I picked one out of the bag to take a closer look and make a spore print. Characteristics Habitat: On soil and debris. Also found in grass. Cap: 1.5cm across, orange, turning

Fungi have - completely unintentionally - become my hobby. Last summer, whilst on holiday in the Brecon Beacons, I stumbled across a flowchart for identifying mushrooms in a local shop. Intrigued, I bought it, and it sat on a desk in my house for several months. When I found it again in September, I decided to go for a walk in Bute Park to see if I could find any mushrooms, and something irreversible sparked within me. Since then, I have become somewhat of a 'mushroom enthusiast', and it seems there's no turning back. Generally speaking, I'm not very good at keeping up hobbies. I will usually do something for a couple of months and get bored, before moving onto the next thing. It's for this reason, that when it was first suggested to me to document my fungal discoveries I decided against it, thinking it was another one of my passing phases. However, five months in, I think it's safe to say I'm hooked and this is not as temporary as my emo phase once was.