Autumn fungi come early

Cortinarius violaceus - purple webcap (rare)

It's been a strange season for fungi. The summer fungi were very late - appearing only momentarily - yet the autumn fungi are everywhere, and we're only in the third week of August.

These purple webcaps were found growing on the east side of the pond, just up from the fishermen's bridge, so they're not strictly within our boundaries. However it's good to see this rare species making an appearance again. They don't seem to appear in the same spot twice. These ones are over 200m away from where last year's specimens popped up. The only similarities I have noticed is that they seem to grow in proximity to birch, and are more likely to grow near a path or near the edge of the wood where there is less shade.

Russula delica

These russula are typical of the many currently showing in the wood. These were found right at the roadside fence , growing through the leaf litter . Now these ones do come up in the same spot every year. They are very noticeable due to their size and the sheer force with which they push their way out of the ground, heaving aside the pine needles.

Amanita fulva - Tawny Grisette

Several members of the Amanita family are common in the wood - Amanita rubescens, Amanita muscaria (fly agaric), Amanita citrina (false death cap) Amanita excelsa and Amanita fulva (the tawny grisette) pictured above. They are all reasonably easy to identify as Amanita, due to their egg like appearance when young and that they often have a bag like 'Volvo' at the bottom of their stem. Distinguishing between different members of the family is more difficult, especially between pantherina and excelsa, which are both basically brownish mushrooms with spots. The grisettes are still the same family, but have a cleaner appearance, with a smooth stem. They are supposed to be edible, but I don't expect they taste of much. The picture above shows both the young and the fully grown specimen. There is a useful Amanita key here.

Crepodotis mollis - soft slipper toadstool

Finally, this one is a new one for me. Soft, damp and curly, the brittle fungus grows on decaying wood. The photo shows one which was part of a group growing on a dead rowan tree lying on the ground.  Crepodotis mollis - its common name is the soft slipper toadstool, which I can't quite see, but it was definitely soft to the touch.