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Five species of fungi to look out for

Autumn is a great time to explore fungi with their ‘fruiting bodies’ presenting themselves above ground in many different shapes and sizes. As well as being good on the eye, fungi have a vital role to play in the ecosystem.

Before we explore, a word of warning…

Fungi is fascinating, presenting in many different shapes and sizes but whilst it warrants close inspection and admiration, fungi can be deadly when misidentified and eaten so please exercise caution when studying it.

Many species of fungi are excellent decomposers with a specialism for breaking down lignin in trees, helping to rot these large woody plants down and making their nutrients available for other plants and animals to harvest. Some fungi are also mycorrhizal, which means that their roots form symbiotic relationships with trees in the forest. The trees provide the fungi with sugar that they make from photosynthesis in exchange for phosphorous, a nutrient commonly found in fertiliser and one which is hard for trees to extract from the soil by themselves as it is not very soluble.

What you are looking at when you see fungi on woodland floors is actually the fruit-body which forms on top of a larger and much more complex mycelium, which lies underground. These fruiting bodies are called mushrooms. There are many species of fungi which do not have large and visible fruit-bodies but are small, dark and appear like coverings of a cob-web. There are around 3000 species of the larger fungi with fruit-bodies in the UK which are more commonly known.

All fungi rely on water to grow and expand their cells which makes Autumn the perfect time for a great majority of the species, though you will find fungi growing in the UK all year round. Chris James from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Fungus Group helps us to identify some of the more common species you may spot when out on your woodland walks:

Sulphur Tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare

Sulphur tuft fungi growing together on a woodland edge

cc: Matthew Roberts

The caps are bright lemon yellow and they have a black spore deposit. Usually found in clusters growing on stumps or fallen logs, they are an important decomposer of dead wood.

Oak Bonnet, Mycena inclinata

Oak bonnet fungi growing out of oak wood in a group

cc: Guy Edwardes

These have quite small and delicate beige caps attached to thin reddish stems. Always found on oak logs and stumps - again, several in a cluster.

Magpie Fungus, Coprinopsis picacea

Close up of the skin of a magpie fungus. You can see the black and white patches where it gets its name

cc Guy Edwardes

This is one of the inkcap family and has a dark-brown, bell-shaped cap covered in patches of white on its veil. Look out for this species in beech woodlands.

King Alfred's Cakes, Daldinia concentrica

King Alfred cakes are a hard mushroom usually looking like a dark stone protruding from rotting or diseased wood

cc Vaughn Matthews

On dead trunks and branches of Ash, look out for King Alfred's Cakes! Round, hard blackish lumps - so no caps and stems in this species.

Turkey Tails, Trametes versicolor

Turkey Tails, a bracket fungi protruding out of wood with concentric rings starting in white at the margin and varying from dark brown, red, green and blue as you get closer to the centre

cc Les Binns

A very common species, Turkey Tails is a thin multi-zoned bracket fungus found on stumps. Nearly always growing in tiers of brackets and resembling a turkey’s tail. The edges of each bracket are whitish but the other zones will be shades of brown, becoming paler towards the outside edge.

Yellow Stainer, Agaricus xanthodermus

White field mushroom looking a lot like common supermarket mushrooms with yellow bruising on the cap

cc Wild Food UK

One species to be wary of is the Yellow Stainer. This looks just like a delicious Field Mushroom and is probably responsible for more gastric upsets than any other species! Often growing in road verges and on roundabouts and so very enticing and easy to pick. But double-check for the rapid yellow staining of the cap edges and especially the bottom of the stem. And also smell it. These fungi have an unpleasant smell of ink and they taste most unpleasant, so definitely not one for a fry-up.

Did you know? Mushrooms can release up to 2.7 billion spores a day.

If you are interested in looking for fungi this Autumn, please see our previous blog ‘Fun with fungi’ which details what to look out for and which of our nature reserves you’ll be likely to find them at. Or, if you’re interested in learning more, join the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Fungi Group for a Fungi Foray – an opportunity to find, identify and record the different types of fungi found growing in a particular habitat. Please share your fungi photos by tagging the Trust @hertswildlifetrust on Instagram and Facebook and @HMWTBadger on Twitter.

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