Day 8 - North York Moors Nature Walk - Part 2

Suede Bolete
(Xerocomus subtomentosus)

Hi everyone. Today I've got a ton of fungi for you that I've found when I've been out walking. They are all from one section of woodland which is a bit mixed as it has some pine and some deciduous sections. There were a lot of different types of fungi.

The first two pictures here are of a mushroom that I thought looked a bit like a scotch pancake from on top (I really like them!). This took a lot of research, and I mean A LOT, to try and work it out. As you'll see from the bottom photo it has no gills but tubes or pores so my Dad and I think it is a type of fungi called a Boletus, probably a Suede Bolete. I'm glad I only go looking at and photographing fungi and not collecting them to eat as I've found out that its really, really tricky to know you have the right one. Our family is going to stick to the supermarket for our mushrooms!

Fly Agaric (Amantia muscaria)

This next one was quite an easy one and it's my favourite as its very colourful. Any children reading this probably know it as a fairytale mushroom. Its the Fly Agaric. It looks pretty but it's quite a dangerous one and the red is a warning not to touch it or eat it! I was surprised to find this in a thick bit of pine woodland where I didn't think I'd find anything.

Purplespore Bracket
(Trichaptum abietinum)

The third one I found on an old tree stump. It has some great patterns and looks like it is coloured by algae, or so my research suggests. The most likely match I've found is the Purplespore Bracket. This likes to grow on rotting conifers and as we were in a bit of pine woodland I think it's probably this.

I hadn't realised all of this until I did the research but fungi are really important to us and the planet. The do lots of things for us:

• they rot down dead material and return it to the soil
• some types provide us with food (if you are expert enough to know the right types - here's a tip guys, play safe like me and get your from the supermarket)
• special fungi like penicillin provide us with medicine
• some form partnerships with plants to help them grow
• others (yeasts) help us make bread and beer (Dad's quite happy about this last one!)

 This last set of photo's are of some of the others (there's a lot more) I found but haven't been able to identify yet. I may have to get a good book to help as it has been really hard off the net.

 I used a lot of sites including Wikipedia and Wild About Britain - Fungi Identification and a lot more besides. If you're a fungi expert and know what these are I'd love to know.

Hope you enjoyed today's post.

Zach.