A group of students from Brislington Enterprise College have just returned from a fabulous fungi walk with fungi expert John Bailey and have discovered many interesting species and fun facts along the way.
Their first discovery was a King Alfred’s cake fungus, which had been slightly demolished by hungry insects. A long time ago this species, formerly known as ‘cramp balls’, were believed to prevent muscle cramps.
After a rather tiring ascent there were plenty more fantastic finds.
The group of students were then taught about the negative effects of some fungi on plant health, after discovering a parasitised leaf and taking a closer look.
Amongst some dense vegetation John managed to spot some artists bracket fungus. If a name is carved into this fungus it will remain throughout its growth.
It seemed like scrambled egg to most, but John quickly advised us that this was yet another fungus to add to our species count.
Hannah Mulvany, ARKive Species Text Author Intern
[...] may have read the blog post earlier about the fungi walk. We have now finished editing a short video taken during it – enjoy! [...]