The Shroom Room

As the sun has been shining a lot recently, I've been making an effort to enjoy it. After a busy week, I chose today to do some more exploring around our new neighbourhood. There's a nature trail nearby, so I had a walk through there, keeping my eye out for mushrooms as always. I wasn't expecting much, as it's been really dry recently. The Turf Mottlegills which I found last week had already disappeared. But when I walked off the main path into a more wooded area, I caught sight of a cluster of Fairy Inkcaps , or Coprinellus disseminatus. While most Inkcaps  auto-digest into a black liquid, Fairy Inkcaps don't do this. They do, however, darken with age, and their caps expand outwards as they mature. For this reason, two Fairy Inkcaps growing next to each other could look completely different! They tend to grow in clusters, sometimes hundreds in numbers, on or beside dead wood. The cluster I found today were on the bottom of an upturned tree. It...

I love how so many fungi are named - some are inventive, some are hilarious, and others take more of a say-what-you-see approach. I like to think that today's fungal focus takes the latter approach. Whoever named this fungus the Jelly Ear really did just describe what they saw in front of them, and the Latin name is a bit of a mouthful. I have tried many times to pronounce Auricularia auricula-judae , but I'm sure it still doesn't sound right. They really do look like ears made of jelly, and, being a year-round fungus, you can pretty much guarantee you'll come across a group of them at some point. Unlike a lot of fungi, whose fruitbodies appear for a couple of days before degrading, jelly ears persist for a while. They change state depending on the weather, feeling velvety when dry but slippery and jelly-like when wet. For this reason, they're apparently great when used for stock, although I've yet to try this. Characteristics Habitat:  On wo...

Rain is usually a consciously-avoided element of mine; however after the dry spell we've been having, I welcomed it with open arms this week, hoping that it might encourage some fungi to emerge. I was not disappointed! In an attempt to expand our mushroom-hunting horizons, Matt and I have been researching new areas to go. On Saturday, we drove to Cwm George and Casehill woods in Dinas Powys for an early March stroll. This wood is over 500 years old and it's beautiful. We had a great time walking around and found loads of different species of fungi. I've chosen today to focus on one in particular: the Velvet Shank , or Flammulina velutipes (the scientific name is fun to say out loud!) These lovely fellas are out from autumn til spring, so I've seen them around quite a lot in the last few months. They like to grow in small groups on dead wood, and most of the ones I've found have been on stumps. They have an orange cap which is often sticky to touch, and the...

I am a creature of habit. I always tend to go to the same spots when I go for walks, whether in search of mushrooms or not. Last Sunday, I decided to expand my horizons to a nature reserve hidden in a corner of Cardiff, that I had heard was a lovely place to go. Although it was a 30-minute walk to get there, it was definitely worth it. As soon as I pushed open the gate to enter the wood, a sense of calm and quiet washed over me. This was helped by the fact that it was the morning, and nobody was around. I saw only a couple of dog walkers in the entire time I was there. It was as though I had the whole space to myself; my little secret. I was not expecting much in the way of fungi, due to the time of year and the fact that it had been dry for a few days. Nevertheless, I scanned the ground for signs of fungal life, all the while enjoying the sounds of birds, watching the bees and taking pictures of the hidden daffodils and snowdrops. Whilst walking down a less-beaten path, a flash...

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-...