It was a long dry summer. Every brook shrivelled down to a trickle and the thirsty soil dried, cracked and crumbled. The mycelium hunkered down, their genetic machinery switching to barren mode, all autumnal thoughts of  fecundity put aside for another, more fruitful year.

Am I exaggerating? Not on the evidence of this sortie into Knole. There had been a burst of rain about a week before, but apart from that very little moisture in the whole month, and that must be why there was almost nothing to be found. The small hillock where I often find half-a-dozen species of waxcap plus many other mushrooms had none of any kind.

So, 6 mushroom species found and those often with just a single specimen. That makes them hard to identify, but with several hours of effort I managed to pin down 5 of the 6. And 4 of them I’ve not even recorded before! (I’m assuming that my ids are correct, which is far from certain.)

Brick Tuft is very common and I do see it around but usually ignore it because it’s so common! So I need it in my records although this is a very atypical sample. Galerina pseudomycenopsis is a type of Bell.  I hardly ever see Bells, or more likely hardly ever notice and/or identify them, as they’re small and brown and often solitary. Oakbug Milkcap is another one I’ve seen around but not recorded before. Split Fibrecap is a nice find. Quite an attractive mushroom but poisonous of course, like all the Inocybes,