Fungal fruitin'

The 'shroom season has been a little disappointing. It started in a rush of excitement at the end of August, with lots of chanterelles, but the Indian summer, lovely as it was, stopped the fungi in their tracks. The good news though is that the hedgehog mushrooms go on for much longer than most. Today my friend Amanda (shown with handsome specimen) and I took a fledgling forager out to 'show her the shrooms'; fortunately we managed to sniff some out.

The mushrooms have landed

I can barely contain my excitement. After unexpected 'shroom discoveries this morning (see previous entry) I was inspired to go and see if there was any action in one of my favourite places. And yes - to my delight - I found lots of fungal fruiting. Chanterelles in abundance, some hedgehog mushrooms and bay boletes. Other species seen but not picked included panther caps (poisonous nasties), a larch bolete, tawny grisettes and various russulas.

'Shroom report

There still seem to be quite a few hedgehog mushrooms out there, but the season hasn't lived up to its early promise. Virtually no boletes, apart from a solitary penny bun in September, and not that many chanterelles either, apart from a rash at the end of August/beginning of September. I found both types of hedgehog today: Hydnum repandum on the left of the picture, and Hydnum rufescens on the right.