Roy Watling

“ Mycology, therefore, offers to the beginner and the professional many opportunities in physiology and ecology.
In grassland areas it is difficult to know where to draw the line between one plant-community and another when listing species, for although ecologically distinct both would come under the name grassland. In the field, however, this is often very obvious and there is little doubt that fungi can give just as accurate an indication as to the soil-type, as many mosses or vascular plants. ”

“ I have not indicated the edibility of a particular species unless there is no doubt as to the edibility of it, related species and those species with which it might be easily confused. Many fungi are notoriously difficult to identify and when one has approximately 3,000 species of larger fungi in the country the task is even more difficult. It would be folly therefore to indicate edibility for all the fungi described in a book such as this; the golden rule which should be adopted is not to eat any of the fungi one collects in the woods and fields. ”

“ In the penultimate zone the grass is dead, probably not caused by a direct parasitic attack but by the mycelial threads filling the air-spaces in the soil and so inhibiting water flow. This destruction of the delicate balance of water and air found in any soil induces drying out and gradual death of the plants whose roots permeate the soil. Behind the dead-zone is vegetation which shows increased vigour apparently due to plant-nutrients being released by the decaying mycelium and plant-material, whose death has been caused by the presence of the fungus. The innermost zone is not so stimulated. ”

“ I am fully aware that the taste of a fungus may be distinctive to that species or to a group of closely related species, but it is only a spot character and the tasting of one’s finds is neither necessary nor advisable ”

“ Keeping a close watch at the site of a former bonfire day by day, week by week and month by month is very rewarding and shows a further example, like the dung habitat, of a tightly knit community of various groups of fungi. ”

“ Specimens of all these groups will find their way some time into the collecting baskets of the naturalist when he is out fungus-picking, along with probably a few jelly-fungi and less frequently one or two species of the rather more distantly related group, the morels. The biggest proportion of the finds, however, on any one collecting day in the autumn, when the larger fungi are in their greatest numbers, will be of the mushrooms and toadstools; these are, collectively, more correctly called the agarics. ”

“ Pure birch and beech, the latter particularly when on chalky soils, are excellent areas to visit. Oak is possibly not as good but areas with willow and alder have many unique species. The edge of woods, sides of paths or clearings are usually more productive areas to search in than is the depth of the wood, and a small plot of trees can be much more rewarding than a large expanse of woodland. After some time one is able to judge the sort of place which will yield fungi. ”

“ Grasslands including hill-pastures, established sand-dunes, etc., are often excellent, but of course they are much more dependent on the weather to produce favourable conditions for fungal development than woodland areas where the changes in the humidity and temperature are less extreme; prolonged mist or mild showery weather favour the fruiting of the grassland fungi. Dung in both woods and fields is an excellent although ephemeral substrate; many species of fungi characterise dung whilst others will grow in manured fields, on straw-heaps or where man has distributed the habitat. ”

“ There is little doubt that it is this rapid and intense blueing of the flesh of many boletes that has lead to a belief that they are poisonous. It is uncertain whether there are any truly toxic species of Boletus but several have unpleasant smells and tastes which make them very unattractive. Boletus edulis is the important ingredient, however, which gives the distinctive taste to so-called dried mushroom soup. Thousands of fruit-bodies are collected annually in the forests of Europe to be later dried and processed for incorporation into soup. ”

“ The genus Coprinus—or Ink-caps The genus Coprinus is easily recognised from all other agarics by the structure and development of the fruit-body. In the field, most species of the genus can be recognised by the gradual conversion of the gills, and often the cap tissue into a black liquid resembling ink—hence the name inky-caps. The conversion of the gills to an inky mass is called autodigestion and the process is complete within a few hours; this mechanism enables spores to be dispersed immediately they have ripened. ”

“ Although rather a common easily recognisable and aesthetically pleasing fungus growing in its characteristic clusters at the base of trees, it is a weak parasite entering the living tissue after invading decayed areas of the tree. This is the reason why when branches are broken off trees by wind, snow or storms, they should be carefully trimmed to remove ragged edges and the wound treated with a protective tar to stop the entry of rain, cold and fungus spores. Other more destructive fungi may enter a tree through such wounds ”

“ Many amateurs interested in higher fungi wish only to name their collections, or know approximately what they are before sampling them as an addition to their diet. An understanding of our commoner species at an early age will allow the ‘budding’ mycologist to tackle the much needed study of the more critical forms. Mycology is still at a descriptive stage, but it is hoped this will soon be changed and fungi of all kinds will be studied as part and parcel of courses in ecology. ”

“ The subgenus Telamonia which occurs in many texts was formerly thought to differ from Hydrocybe in the presence of a universal veil; the universal veil is a second veil which completely envelopes the fruit-body when it is young and is in addition to the cortina. However, the modern treatment would seem to suggest that the presence of the universal veil is not of the utmost importance and so the two subgenera are incorporated into one. The name Hydrocybe reflects the character of changing colour as it dries out because of the loss of water. ”

“ The word ‘foenisecii’ means hay-harvest, reflecting the habitat of growing in fields. This fungus is variable in colour depending on its state of turgidity; it can be easily confused with other species of Panaeolus when moist and with certain species of Conocybe when dry. P. rickenii is an equally common agaric growing on similar or slightly less base-rich soil-types. It has a distinctly bell-shaped reddish brown cap with a pale incurved margin which in wet weather is, like the entire stem, beaded with droplets of liquid. ”

“ If one selects the eight most distinctive shaped spore-types exhibited in members of this family, then when their spores are examined side-on a feature is available for correlation with the traditional field characters, such as cap scaliness and gill-attachment. The most distinctive spore-shape is Type G, found in Nolanea staurospora Bresadola, which is probably the most common and widespread species of the family. It grows in woodlands, grassland and on lawns and will be dealt with later (p. 122) . ”

“ Members of the genus Hygrocybe have regular to irregular gill-tramas. In fact, although both genera are united into a single family, the Hygrophoraceae is based on one character common to both, i.e. the long basidium; there is every indication that the genus Hygrocybe has greater affinity to Omphalina in the Tricholomataceae (p. 232) .
Surprisingly enough in North America many of our familiar grassland species including H. pratensis are to be found in deep shaded woodland! ”

“ The flesh of members of both Lactarius and Russula contains groups of rounded cells, a feature unique amongst agarics and explains why in Russula the fruit-bodies, cap and gills and sometimes the stem are brittle and easily break if crushed between the fingers. The fruit-body does not exude a milky liquid when the flesh is broken. ”

“ The specialised substrates of certain species of Marasmius and related genera A whole series of very small fungi are found in woodland communities which appear to be closely related one to another because their caps are usually tough, although membranous, dry rapidly yet do not decay, and, moreover, revive on remoistening. Their gills are also rather tough and their spores always white in mass. They are placed in the genus Marasmius. ”

“ Clavariadelphus pistillaris is the largest of our simple club-fungi; it may grow up to 200 mm high and 50 mm wide. This fungus has a wrinkled outer surface and sometimes the apex of the club becomes flattened and lacks basidia; this suggests a possible relationship, perhaps evolutionary, to the primitive chanterelles (see p. 162) —also woodland fungi. Clavulina, a complex group of dull or whitish, branched fruit-bodies, has been described earlier and the genus is characterised by the large spores and 2-spored basidia; they are woodland fungi also. ”

“ The ear-pick fungus is easily recognised by the slender, elegant habit, excentrically placed cap, substrate preference and dark colours. It cannot be confused with any other fungus. Recently it has been shown that the ‘agaric’ Lentinellus cochleatus (Fries) Karsten (p. 76) is more closely related to Auriscalpium than this fungus is to other spine-bearing forms and Lentinellus is to the other agarics. Both fungi possess thick-walled cells in the flesh and oil-containing hyphae; they are placed in the family Auriscalpiaceae. ”

“ Collecting The collecting of larger fungi should not be considered a haphazard pursuit; careless collecting often results in many frustrating hours being spent on the identification of inadequate material, which is also not suitable after for preservation as reference material. A few good specimens are infinitely better than several poor ones; one is always tempted to collect too much and then collections are inevitably discarded. ”

“ Unlike other agarics the spores are not shot off into the spaces between the gills, but directly into the air. The gills are parallel-sided in Coprinus and not wedge-shaped as in more normal agarics, and in order to achieve spore dispersal the gills must disintegrate; Coprini are very specialised.
Coprinus is a large genus with over seventy members in the British Isles, many of which are strictly dung-loving. It is impossible to give more than one example in full here, for although many of the large species can be recognised on sight the smaller ones require the aid of a microscope. ”

“ It is a frequent pest of old houses and therefore of many of our cities. This fungus does not appear to have been found in the wild in Europe, but there is a record from the Himalayas. There are, however, very closely related species found on soil or wood-detritus. The Dry-rot fungus darkens the wood and produces a rot which makes the wood crack into small cubes or rectangular blocks.
This fungus was formerly placed in Merulius, but this genus should be retained for hyaline-spored fungi, e.g. M. tremellosus Fries, a species which grows even in winter on stumps of various trees in our woods. ”

“ Clavulinopsis corniculata is recognised by the branched habit and the smooth spores; Ramaria ochraceo-virens is of similar form, but has an overall duller colour and turns green on bruising, grows in pinewoods and has finely roughened brownish spores. Calocera viscosa also has an erect, bright golden or orange-yellow fruit-body which becomes more orange on drying. It is repeatedly branched and usually has a long, tough-rooting base. However, the spore-print is dirty yellowish and the fruit-body, which grows on coniferous wood, is viscid and elastic, a character reflected in the name ‘viscosa’. ”

“ After a heavy storm in summer, on the edges of paths and roadsides, woodland banks, in clearings in woods and in gardens, fungi can be collected within a few days of the rain, but collecting normally reaches a climax in August-September, the precise date depending on the locality and the individual character of the particular year.
All woodlands are worth visiting, particularly well-established woods with a mixture of trees. Pure pine-woods do not seem to be as good as pine-woods with scattered birch ”