Misunderstood Mushrooms
The role of fungi
Neither plant nor animal, fungi play an essential role in ecosystems helping to breakdown and decay dead matter such as dead animals and leaf litter, returning the nutrients to the soil ready for them to be used again by plants. Some fungi like yeast are tiny and can’t be seen by the naked eye; others start life as microscopic filaments and grow, producing visible structures such as mushrooms or moulds. It was originally thought that the blue whale was the Earth’s largest species but recently a honey fungus in Oregon was found to be 2.4miles in length, covering a huge area of 3.7 square miles. Much like other fungi, this honey fungus spreads tiny filaments through the soil and food source, producing a huge invisible web known as its mycelium.
Autumn appearance
Over the summer months most fungi mycelium have had time to grow and as autumn approaches the weather becomes wetter whilst staying relatively warm. This damp climate provides the perfect conditions for fungi to reproduce and for many fungi autumn is their fruiting season. Mushrooms are a fungi’s fruiting body and much like a plant disperses seeds, a fungi releases spores from the mushroom’s cap, which eventually settle in a new environment and grow into a new fungi.
Notable species
A walk in the woods this autumn will be enough to see fungi of all shapes and sizes, from tree-hugging bracket fungi like the giant polypore to the iconic, bright red fly agaric. Although we tend to see many variations of flowering plant throughout the spring and summer, there are in fact 8 times as many fungi species in the UK, many of which only become visible in the crisp air of autumn. Milkcaps are one of the most easily identifiable groups of fungi, characterised by their stereotypically looking mushroom. When cut, milkcaps are known to exude a milky-like substance from their brittle body.
Fungi walk at RSPB Tudeley Woods nature reserve
Join the RSPB’s fungus expert Martin Allison on the hunt for hidden gems on the 20th October, 2016 for a chance to search and learn about some of the UK’s fantastic fungi species. The event takes place at RSPB Tudeley Woods near Tonbridge in Kent from 10:30am – 13:00 pm. Tickets are £10 or £6 for RSPB members. To find out more call 01892 752430 or see here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-420958
Comments
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Brue
Just Deleted User it. I wonder if the Meeks sometimes have a problem with their wifi as there have been a couple of duplicates.
Just wonder if it would be worth posting detail of the walk in the relavent section in General Chat?
David
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Brue
Just Deleted User it. I wonder if the Meeks sometimes have a problem with their wifi as there have been a couple of duplicates.
Just wonder if it would be worth posting detail of the walk in the relavent section in General Chat?
David
Nice point David, perhaps I'll make a post in the Wildlife forum?
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A very interesting read. I would love to read more posts like this. Thank you.
Apologies if our post knocked it off. Yes, we do often have issues with wifi - depending where we are. This can sometimes mean photos or video don't get uploaded or for some reason there are duplicates.
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A very interesting read. I would love to read more posts like this. Thank you.
Apologies if our post knocked it off. Yes, we do often have issues with wifi - depending where we are. This can sometimes mean photos or video don't get uploaded or for some reason there are duplicates.
If I do delete a duplicate I do try and make sure I leave the one with the photos.
David
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Thank you David. That's much appreciated. It can be frustrating when you spend ages uploading images only to find the post doesn't upload or uploads with the images missing.
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