Sorry about the title, but it was going to happen sooner or later. We weren’t really expecting a plethora of fungi in the estate this weekend (late summer and autumn things will start to change) but whilst on an general search this afternoon BioBlitz naturalists came across some interesting species.
Dryads saddle - Polyporus squamosus
One fairly common spring bracket fungus, the Dryad’s saddle Polyporus Squamosus was found on dead wood not far from the BioBlitz base camp. We found both young and old specimens, the young ones being good (well, ok) to eat. This fungus is unique to me as being the only thing in the world that smells of watermelon (except the obvious).
Turkeytail - Trametes versicolor
Also found was a Turkeytail bracket Trametes Versicolor. Very common and fairly easy to spot, with multicoloured concentric rings. Quite tough and not edible.
King Alfred's cakes - Daldinia concentrica
King Alfred’s cakes, or cramp balls Daldinia concentrica are also quite common and easy to spot throughout the year. They hardly look like a standard ‘mushroom’, but more like lumps of coal attached to dead wood. These ‘cakes’ can be broken apart where you can see concentric rings inside. They also burn quite well, so mistaking them for pieces of coal will not cause too much disappointment….
[...] Fun-guys [...]