#inedible fungi

Epping Forest, London, UK, May 2022

Birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina)

Beautiful little specimen of an incredible fungi - see past posts for more. These always make me smile a lil because they’re one of a few fungi my husband can ID because they’re so common and I always point them out.

Cambridge, UK, May 2022

Yellow fieldcap (Bolbitius titubans)

Always so sweet to see these when they’re young and bright yellow before they expand and quickly turn greyish 

Epping Forest, London, February 2022

Oak Mazegill (Daedalea quercina)

I’m never not stunned by their gills.

Epping Forest, London, April 2022

Artist’s fungus (Ganoderma applanatum)

I made this for my fiance, who loves this poem - Fanfare for the Makers by Louis Macneice. It’s now drying on a shelf to be preserved for years.

Epping Forest, UK, August 2020

Lilac bonnet (Mycena pura)

Leeds, UK, August 2021

Artist’s fungus (Ganoderma applanatum) 

Found this artist’s fungus (a favourite) while visiting my little brother, a theoretical physicist; he had me scratch his ‘favourite equation’ into it but I’m pretty sure I didn’t get it right.

Epping Forest, London, UK, October 2021

Oak mazegill (Daedalea quercina)

Old, fallen mazegill still showing off its amazing pore structure.

Hadley Wood, London, UK, October 2021

Bleeding mycena (Mycena crocata) 

I absolutely adore these fungi - bright red stem, and they bleed from the cap when damaged.

Hadley Wood, Barnet, UK, August 2020 

Hare’sfoot inkcap (Coprinopsis Iagopus)

This beautiful, delicate fungus will within a few hours of this stage begin to open up, becoming a translucent parasol as they release their spores, which you can see here. 

Sutton Park, Birmingham, UK, October 2021

Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) 

I found swathes of these iconic mushrooms while walking across Sutton Park yesterday - so large and distinctive they can often be identified by even the most beginner mycologists from a couple dozen metres away.

They’re the most beautiful little fairytale mushroom, and always gorgeous to spot. What a lot of people don’t realise at first is that the captivating ‘spots’ sported by the Amanitagenus are remnants of the universal veil- the spherical sack that these fungi emerge from. They tear it as they grow, the cap widening to split it as it stretches open, leaving spots of the white substance clinging to the surface of the cap. These loose remnants are not securely attached, meaning the ‘spots’ can be washed off fairly easily by rain, as you can see most prominently in the antepenultimate photo, which I at first thought was a red Russulaspecies, the spots of this specimen having been almost completely washed away, until I investigated beneath the cap to find a few scraps clinging to the edge (just visible) and a telltale ring around the stem. 

Epping forest, London, UK, October 2021

Common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum)

Mature earthballs, at various stages of having split open to release their spores. 

Epping Forest, London, UK, October 2021

Rosy bonnets (Mycena rosea) 

It’s rosy bonnet season baby!!!! If you’ve been following for long, you already know I’m a slut for these pink mushrooms. They start appearing in the UK in August, but I think the autumn specimens are always a much brighter pink - or perhaps they just look better against the autumnal forest floor.