It’s been a slow start to the mushrooming year. In Spring last year there were lots of Pavement Mushrooms in Ladywell Fields, but not a sniff of them this year, although I did see some Glistening Inkcaps on one of their customary sites. In my garden there’s actually been lots. Growing in the soil in my big raised bed I’ve been seeing large clusters for about a month now, but they sprout and decay so quickly that the resulting scrappy mess of half dead specimens is hard to identify and hasn’t merited any pictures. So I’m glad to have finally caught these Pale Brittlestems in their young prime, just a day after sprouting up. Identification is somewhat doubtful as this species really grows on dead wood, but they are close to oak sleepers. Dense clusters and large cap size rules out most of the other brittlestem types.