Something different today. I normally write about seashore things in this blog but I photograph all sorts of other natural things – and man-made ones too. As it is the season of mellow fruitfulness, I thought you might like to see some pictures of common and colourful fungi that grow locally in the Wessex Countryside here in Dorset, UK. I am not an expert in fungi identification – so any names applied to the fungi in the pictures are tentative.
At the top are two red-capped Fly Agaric toadstools. Below: the lilac-capped Amethyst Deceiver fungus amongst beech leaf litter; a small bracket-type fungus with concentric bands of different colours growing on a fallen tree; a Stink Horn amongst dead woodland leaves; a Boletus mushroom (probably edible) growing on a lawn; and finally another Agaric-type toadstool with the cap faded from red to orange-brown (growing on grass beneath a silver birch tree).
Revision of a post first published 5 November 2009
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Jessica's Nature Blog 
Glorious!!!
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Thanks, Viv. I hope you have altogether glorious day. The sun is shining brightly here and the world out there looks lovely.
Did your picture of the fish come out alright? That seemed a very good sign for you.
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I still can’t upload it; I have been having some problems with my usb router which gets snitty if I use the other usb port for my phone connector. I have no idea what is wrong so I may try and upload on another computer and transfer it.
It’s a bit grey and grim here but we’re heading out for Sussex tonight.
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Jessica, your fungi photographs are all lovely, but I think the Amethyst Deceiver is my favorite, both for its appearance and its wonderful name.
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Great shots!
That penny bun (if it is such) looks luscious – I haven’t found any yet.
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What a great name – penny bun! It does look like one. You are probably right. I saw a lot of these growing in someone’s lawn a few years ago. I asked if I could photograph them. Each year since I pointed out their presence, they have swiftly disappeared – presumably into his kitchen.
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Thank you. It is a wonderful name but I am not certain why it is called Amethyst Deceiver – maybe because it looks beautiful but is deadly poisonous?
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Hi, Viv. I hope you can resolve the problem of downloading your picture soon – or find an alternative picture of a fish out of water to illustrate your novel.
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Jessica, these photographs are clearer than the ones in my Audubon field guide to mushrooms. They’re all so beautiful! Lovely colours.
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I am surprised! I don’t even use an SLR camera – just a high end compact or bridge camera with a zoom. I agree with you about the colours; interesting textures too. I found a really wonderful toadstool when I was out walking yesterday. It was still unopened but I reckon the cap will be 30 cm in diameter when unfurled. I think it was a Parasol Mushroom – apparently delicious.
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It’s that time of year! Look out for a post on mine in a few days which dabbles in fungi! I too love the Amethyst Deceiver pic.
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Thank you. I look forward to seeing your fungi posting.
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There’s something Jurassic about fungii!
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Until your comment, I had never even considered the possibility that there might be a fossil record of ancient fungi. I looked it up – and lo and behold there really are fossil fungi! Unbelievable. Not just any fungi fossils but ones that were 6 metres tall dating from before the Jurassic, before the Triassic, before the Permian, before even the Carboniferous – as far back as the Devonian Period and beyond, 350 million years ago. They are called Prototaxites and you can read more about them at
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11701-mystery-prehistoric-fossil-verified-as-giant-fungus.html
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I sat on a old silver birch tree not knowing how rotten it was and it snapped leaving debris and the rotten tree broken I was camped in the wood line on a walking trip when this happened later that evening I noticed the area glowing orange and thought this would be some unusual fungi in the daylight I inspected it but saw nothing just rotten wood any clues as to what this was as I’m intrigued.
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Hello Darren. I am not a fungi expert but I did write a post some time ago about Luminous Fungi. Maybe this is relevant to the glowing orange that you observed.
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