I was just out laying a path in the garden when I spotted a tiny unfamiliar weed hiding under a potato plant. I always take an interest in unusual weeds but this was exceptionally unusual, as it wasn’t a weed at all! It was a Inkcap mushroom. Can’t decide exactly what species. Could be a Hare’s Foot Inkcap (summer/autumn), except that the spores were too small. Could be a Coprinus impatiens (autumn/winter), although habitat isn’t quite right. Could be a Coprinus leiocephalus but Roger Phillips doesn’t give much info about that species. He does say that the spores are only up to 11µ x 8µ, and I measured them at 8-10µ x 5-6µ. I’ll guess it’s that.

There’s several items on my 2014 Fungal Action Plan:

• Enhance the website.
• Do much more with spore pictures and measurements.
• Venture out more in Spring and Summer, not just Autumn.
• Put effort into a proper survey of fungi in Ladywell Fields.
• Become proficient in photoing mushrooms with new camera (Woo-hoo…, it’s an Olympus E-M5.)

So for a start I made a serious effort to find some St. Georges Mushrooms. (I’ve only found them once before – outside Wickes in Catford a few years ago, growing on a scrappy verge.) Traditionally it appears on St Georges day – 23rd April. This year the weather was quite dry for a week or two in mid April, but then it rained on the 20th and following days, so on the Friday I took a day in Cobham Park trying to find one. No luck, unfortunately. And nothing outside Wickes either. Maybe the extremely mild winter has confused it?

I did find three mushrooms of marginal quality. The Golden Scalycap was rather decrepit, but still it’s the first time I’ve seen it. The Cramp Ball is something I often see, and this time decided to take a picture.