MUSHROOMING INTEREST IN FASCINATING FUNGI

By Helen Slade - Friday, November 2, 2007

Display of fungus on a log at Rookley. Picture by Peter Boam.

NOT quite plants, but surely not animals either?
Although on a recent fungus foray we learned that some actually move about, settling only to set spores. But these slime moulds, as they are known, are probably not most people’s idea of fungi.
We have a sort of love-hate relationship with fungi. To gastronomes (and all French people) fungi of one sort or another are a delicacy (sometimes a very expensive one).
But to some people fungi only induce reactions of disgust, or worse if mistakenly consumed.
Rummaging through the undergrowth and leaf-litter at this time of the year can produce an impressive array of shapes, colours, smells and tastes in the form of these amazing life-forms.
One of the most notable aromas is that of the Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) which, having burst out of its initially egg-like fruiting sac, produces a smell like rotting flesh. Delightful!
This attracts insects which swarm all over the honeycombed head, thus enabling the distribution of the spores. You can detect the presence of this fungus long before you actually spot it.
More than 20 members of the society met recently in Parkhurst Forest to accompany an expert from the mainland on a foray. These walks tend to be slow, and punctuated by frequent gatherings to pore over the next specimen; those hoping to find something to savour for dinner anxiously waiting to discover if they have struck gold; others simply fascinated by the sheer variety of structure and form.
One large bracket-type specimen (i.e. growing on the side of a tree trunk) appeared as a lump of stratified wood with a pale surface on which drawings could be made (artist’s fungus or Ganoderma adspersum); another bracket fungi (beefsteak or Fistulina hepatica) looked just like its namesake: juicy and red (but definitely past its best!).
Other fungi arrived for identification in a myriad of sizes and colours: red, violet, porcelain white, and an amazing green one (green wood cup or Chlorosplenium aeruginascens) which causes the wood on which it grows to turn a stunning verdigris colour, and was consequently used for marquetry purposes.
In a couple of hours I think we found about 50 different varieties; and that was not a particularly good day apparently.
Our expert guide, Alan Outen, told us that almost all academic research on the larger fungi in England is carried out by amateurs these days.
The only mycological research done in universities here is funded through Third World countries, who recognise the value of fungi in the eco-system.
They are essential for the breakdown of waste products, and can also be used for food or for chemical or biological control of disease. For example, tempeh, a substitute protein often eaten by vegetarians, is manufactured using a fungus.
Fungi come with the usual health warning of course: don’t eat anything unless you are certain it is edible.
Identification books also vary greatly in how comprehensive they are, so you often need several to be able to confidently name your finds. However, all this means that for the interested amateur, there is a lot of scope to add to our knowledge and understanding of this fascinating subject.
Enjoy!

MUSHROOMING INTEREST IN FASCINATING FUNGI

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