Monthly Archives: September 2017

27th September 2017, Hayes Common

I could only get out for an afternoon, but a few hours on Hayes Common came up with six more species that I’ve not recorded before. It astonishes me that every time I go out there’s another swathe of fungi to be discovered.

Branching Oyster was sprouting from all over it’s log, so living up to it’s Latin name of cornucopiae. I did gather some with the thought of eating them, but after consideration I decided so stick with my rule of never eating a new discovery. I don’t always pay much attention to brackets but they can be interesting. Blushing Bracket was a very striking scarlet colour, although Hazel Bracket was unremarkable. The Blushing Bracket looks like a Cinnabar Polypore but that’s been extinct in Britain for many years, and the underside doesn’t look right and the spores are wrong for that species. But the colour is amazing and too deeply red for a Blushing Bracket, perhaps? According to the book, Agaricus bernardii grows near the sea or sometimes beside roads due the practice of salting them in the winter. I had read this many times in the past, so when I found a large Agaricus one metre from the A232 I already had it my mind. I found two blackish looking groups of mushrooms beside each other on a patch of grass and wasn’t sure they were even different species, but the spores under a microscope are utterly different. Indigo Pinkgill is quite nice and dark grey, but Verdigris Navel was muchly blacker. It’s the first Navel that I’ve found, which is a bit surprising. Perhaps it’s the habitats that I go to, or just that they can be small and unnoticeable. I have now found 11 different species growing on a small patch of grass about 15m by 15m centred on the busy crossroads in the middle of the common. (Actually even more than that because I haven’t recorded them all.)

I’ve been trying to find a fully mature and erect Stinkhorn for many years. I find the immature eggs, and old decrepit ones, and now a broken one, so still waiting…


1. Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus).
Rooting through leaf litter beside dead oak tree. Two eggs and one broken mature specimen. Eggs 5-6cm across. Mature stalk 11cm if unbroken. Eggs had no smell. Mature specimen had earthy, ripe, sweet, unpleasant smell. Eggs had firm jelly consistency. Mature specimen had flies around. Amusing that the rooting egg looks like a sperm and the mature horn look like a phallus.

2. Unidentified.
Growing in leaf litter near oak tree. Several scattered around. Cap 2-4cm, stem up to 3cm. Meally smell. I think this is a type of Woodwax but hard to say which one, especially as these are probably young specimens. Sporeprint White. Spores 5.5-6.5µ x 3.5-5µ.

3. Russet Toughshank (Collybia dryophila).
Growing in leaf litter of oak, beech and pine. Several scattered in the area. Cap 3-5cm, stem up to 5cm. No smell. Noticeable umbo. Thin tough stem. ID is very likely. Sporeprint White. Spores 5-6µ x 4-4.5µ.

4. Branching Oyster (Pleurotus cornucopiae).
Growing on large log in clusters. Many large clusters. Cap up to 11cm across. Pleasant mushroom smell. Cap colour is exactly as an Oyster Mushroom but these finds have stems so must be Branching Oyster. ID is very likely. Sporeprint White. Spores 8-9.5µ x 4-5.5µ.

5. Common Stump Brittlestem (Psathyrella piluliformis).
Growing on pile of cut branches. Many clustered and individual. Cap up to 3cm. No smell. Sporeprint Dark greyish brown. Spores 4-5µ x 2.5-4.5µ.

6. Hazel Bracket (Skeletocutis nivea).
Growing on log. Fans sticking out up to 2cm. No smell. White (but also yellow) on the underside with tiny pores. Easy to peel it off the log. I'm pretty sure this is Hazel Bracket although my book says the spores are tiny and very thin which I can't exactly see, although "sausage shaped" is about right. ID is almost sure. Sporeprint Whitish but not enough to be sure. Spores 4-5µ x 2.5-3.5µ.

7. Indigo Pinkgill (Entoloma chalybaeum).
Growing in grass. A few singles and one cluster. Cap 1.5-3cm, stem 3-4cm. No smell. Sporeprint Pale terracota. Spores 7-9µ x 6-7µ.

8. Verdigris Navel (Arrhenius chlorocyanea).
Growing in grass/moss. One small group of around six. Cap up to 1.5cm, stem 3-5cm. No smell. Very black! Stem flattened. This is interesting - seems to be hardly ever recorded as a find. ID is very likely. Spores 7.5-9µ x 4.5-5.5µ.

9. Agaricus bernardii.
Growing in earth/grass about 1m from the A232. Group of five. Cap up to 10.5cm. Thick stem up to 3.5cm diameter. Smell slight but unpleasant. Pushing up through earth. Flesh turning reddish when cut. The book says this mushroom likes seasides, but appears beside roads inland due to road salting. Well exactly! Sporeprint Dark greyish brown. Spores 5-6.5µ x 4.5-5.5µ.

10. Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa).
Growing on birch log. Many clustered fans. Fans up to 12cm across. Very tough flesh. Oozes a bit of fluid when squeezed. This deep red colour seems to be not usual for this fungus, but some of them on the web do look like this. Tempted to think it might be a Cinnabar Polypore but defintely not, unfortunately. ID is very likely. Spores 8-11.5µ x 3-3.5µ.

15th September 2017, Knole Park, Sevenoaks

So, an early Autumn trip to Knole Park with high hopes…, soon sadly dashed. Very few mushrooms were in evidence. Quite often I only found a single specimen (e.g. a probable Meadow Waxcap), which generally isn’t sufficient for identification purposes.

But even so, found two species that I’ve not encountered before: Orange Mosscap, which is very common, so surprised I’ve not seen it before. And Zoned Rosette which was quite nice – I hoped they might be Cauliflower Funguses at first, but they were definitely much too tough and leathery to be those.

The best find was Macrolepiota rhacodes. I spotted them from afar, across the meadow, and saw straight away that they must be one of the parasols. They formed a large ring, which I’ve not seen with Parasols before. I took a few home to eat for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.


1. Matt Bolete (Xerocomus pruinatus).
Growing in grass parkland, some distance from broad leaf trees. Two. Cap 3.5-4cm. Stem 5.5cm. Smell not distinctive; earthy and pleasant. Flesh gradually turning a bit blue when cut. ID is almost sure. Sporeprint Dark brown. Spores 9.5-11.5µ x 3.5-5µ.

2. Unidentified.
Growing on moss/grass not far from oak tree. Several groups. Cap 3-7cm. Stem 5cm. Smell faint and a bit mushroomy. Woolly foot seemingly attached to moss. I think this may be a type of Webcap but they're very hard to identify. Spores 10-13µ x 3-5.5µ.

3. Orange Mosscap (Rickenella fibula).
Growing in moss. Groups dotted around. Cap 5-10mm. Stem 3cm. Not big enough to detect a smell. Spores 5-6.5µ x 3-4µ.

4. Common Funnel (Clitocybe gibba).
Growing in leaf litter near beech tree. Several scattered around. Cap 4-7cm. Smell fungusy. ID is very likely. Spores 5-6.5µ x 4-5µ.

5. Zoned Rosette (Podoscypha multizonata).
Growing close to a large oak tree. Four around one tree. 15cm across, 8cm high. Smell fungusy. Firmly attached to ground. Spores 4.5-5.5µ x 4-5µ.

6. White False Deathcap (Amanita citrina).
Growing in leaf litter of oak, beech and pine. One. Cap 5.5cm, stem 6cm. Smell faint; raw potato? Not poisonous, but hardly recommended! ID is almost sure. Sporeprint White. Spores 6.5-8.5µ x 6-8µ.

7. Macrolepiota rhacodes.
Growing in grass parkland. Twenty or more in a large group looking almost like a ring. Cap up to 19cm. Took home lots to eat. Mild pleasant flavour. Could be another of the parasols but looks most like M.rhacodes and the spore size is right for this. The book says they grow on rich soil but I've only found them in grass. Eaten. ID is almost sure. Sporeprint White. Spores 11.5-14µ x 8-10µ.

8th September 2017, Ladywell Fields

September gives me an itch in my mushroom organ. So I went out to Ladywell Fields to scratch it.

There was nothing. I wandered hither and thither and found none. I know if I’d gone to the best fairy rings marked in the grass there would have been a few sorry looking Champignons there, but didn’t bother. So, discouraged, I tramped towards home. To my astonishment there were ten Silky Rosegills growing on a large log. I didn’t have my camera, but since it was 200 yards from my house that didn’t cause a problem. I took a few pictures and took a few mushrooms home to eat. I have found a Silky Rosegill in Ladywell Fields before, on the other side of the railway, but finding ten was rather a surprise.


1. Silky Rosegill (Volvariella bombycina).
Growing on large rotting log in clusters. Ten. Cap up to 17cm. Stem around 10cm. Weight of the biggest was 295g. I thought a mild pleasant earthy smell but a tiny bit foetid. The book says they smell of beansprouts, which seems about right. Covered in fine fibrils. Gills white then flesh colour. Eaten. Sporeprint Browny pink. Spores 7-8µ x 5-6.5µ.