Combley Great Wood - 30th September

Thirteen members attended our first meeting of the autumn season, which was held at Combley Great Wood. After such a very dry winter, spring and summer the rains came about 10 days before the meeting and fungi had appeared for us to look at. Several new members were welcomed and we all contributed our knowledge and identified 44 species. Several fungi were taken back for Colin Pope to have a look at, one of which was a Hapalopilus nidulans, the database has only four other records. It looked a bit like a Daedaleopsis confragosa but was soft and spongy. We found seven species of the Bolete family: Boletus edulis, Boletus luridiformis (formerly erythropus), Leccinum duriusculum, Leccinum scabrum, Xerocomus badius, Xerocomus chrysenteron, and Xerocomus pruinatus.

Firestone Copse - 14th October

A large gathering assembled in Firestone Copse car park keen to look for fungi in bright, sunny weather. They were not disappointed. David Biggs led us to spectacular displays of Fly Agarics (Amanita muscaria), and a fallen beech tree covered with glistening white Porcelain Fungus (Oudemansiella mucida) and Jew's Ears (Auricularia auricula-judae). There was much else besides. A total of 83 species were identified including well known species such as Horn of Plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides), Panther Cap (Amanita pantherina) and Orange Oak Bolete (Leccinum crocopidium). The fine displays provided much scope for the many photographers who attended this meeting.

Take a stroll through the photo's here

The annual foray - 26th October

The annual fungus foray was based at Alverstone Village Hall. Some of us accompanied our guest Alan Outen to Borthwood Copse; others visited various sites in the vicinity. Alan identified many species in the field, but some were brought back to the hall for display. We returned to the hall for our various picnics and for Alan to identify the many varieties of fungi gathered in the collecting baskets. It was a hectic afternoon and many people popped in to see the display, hear Alan regaling us with some anecdotes and explaining his identifications.

Marks Corner, Parkhurst - 11th November

About fifteen people turned out for the foray in Parkhurst Forest at Marks Corner. Although almost the middle of November there was only a slight chill to the air and the trees still had many leaves remaining on the branches. Someone who visits the area regularly turned up with loads of photographs he had taken over the last few months including the rare white, Spined tree bracket Hericium cirrhatum. The last time the group had seen this species was in November 1996 in the beech wood at Godshill. Thus our aim was to visit the site where it was seen with the hope that it was still there. Of course, on the way we were constantly distracted with loads of fungi that needed to be identified. We eventually saw this Red Data species and it was duly admired and photographed. This was only the second record for the Island. As we had a General Meeting in the afternoon it was all too soon before we had to return to our cars. In all 78 species were identified.

The Landslip - 25th November

Eighteen people attended our last meeting of the season at The Landslip on a rather wet morning. Over the last 2 weeks we had high winds and heavy rain and most of the leaves had now fallen from the trees leaving a thick layer of rotting debris. Most of the fungi collected were found on tree stumps or fallen branches. However we had a superb collection of Collared Earthstar (Geastrum triplex), including its initial stage where it looked rather like an onion or bulb. Some of us went on to our HQ where we had a session on identification using keys and microscopes. An identification tip mentioned by Alan Outen at our annual foray came in very useful as it helped us to identify Mycena galericulata – if you look between the gills you can see little “galleries” joining them.

Jackie Hart