A PHOTO FUNGI OF THE
DEVON AND CORNWALL PENINSULA

Finding Fungi
(Autumn Report 2006)

The autumn of 2006 has been a very, very good fungi season around the Plymouth area. The season probably started a little later than normal due

to the unusually long, hot summer of 2006. For me the season started off quite poorly as for every mushroom or toadstool found in good enough condition to photograph, there was a dozen or more that had been eaten by slugs; obviously the long summer had given the slugs quite an
appetite, as the season progressed, and the slugs had their fill, the situation fortunately improved.

At an early stage of the season I decided that because of the long hot summer, that I should look for fungi in perhaps the darkest, wettest, habitats I could find. Knowing as little as I do about fungi, as I'm no expert, the plan turned out to be very fruitful and I'm extremely pleased at how the season progressed and especially with regards the number of fungi I came across and numbers photographed. Indeed, it was because of the exceptional season that I decided to transfer my fungi pages from www.aphotoflora.com and place them on this, a new website.

We are blessed in this area by having a remarkable range of habitats in such a localised area. Within just a few miles are the heath / moorlands of Dartmoor, farmland, coniferous plantations and the wooded river valleys of the tributaries of the rivers Plym, Tamar and Yealm. All these habitats proved to be very productive, but especially the latter two. Indeed many hours were spent searching the wooded Plym Valley, sites such as Great Shaugh Wood, Cann Wood, Plym Bridge, Leigham Wood and Mainstone Wood; other good woodland sites include Plymouth City Council Local Nature Reserves, these sites include Bircham Valley LNR, Ham Woods LNR, The Andy Stevens LNR and Southway Woods LNR; Whitleigh Woods also proved to be a very good area.

Coniferous Plantations with areas of Mixed, Deciduous, or Beech Woodland, such as those of  Cann Woods, near Plympton were really good for searching, and no matter how dark the wood became, the fungi kept coming. In fact the best areas to search in Cann Woods were the darkest, deepest areas of wood. Another factors worth mentioning, was that there were often more fungi within the woods that sloped to the north, and where these woods had streams or brooks with good mossy or banks with bare soil. Cann Woods proved to be especially good for fungi early in the season, and given the understanding I gained early on, I decided to search many of the Plymouth Local Nature Reserves, and especially those that had woodland facing north with a stream in their valley, and it's surprising how many there are. There were four areas of Plymouth that proved to be exceptional for the variety of fungi that could be found, these were Whitleigh Woods, The Andy Stevens LNR, Ham Woods LNR and Bircham Valley LNR; the latter is closer to where I live and turned out to be one of the best areas.

It is worth mentioning though that many of these LNRs were good habitats because there was quite an amount of fallen timber that had been left to decay naturally, especially so in Ham Woods, Plymouth. Had these LNR's been managed and cleared of fallen or decaying timber I doubt many fungi would have been found. I see so many woods that have been cleared completely of fallen and decaying timber, they might look good for visitors, and be good places to see birds and mammals, but by clearing woodlands of fallen and decaying timber we deny them of an important part of their ecosystem, and create what can only be considered a more aesthetic, but also a more sterile
environment. So if anyone reading this knows an unkempt wood, don't complain too much, just
appreciate that it probably has more to offer wildlife than it has to man.

Stating the type of habitat and mentioning a few sites or Local Nature Reserves of course doesn't help people find fungi, as sometimes you can walk into a wood and not see anything, even at the right time of the year, and seemingly when there should be plenty to see. When I go searching I
always wear a pair of waders, primarily to keep my knees dry whilst crouched to take a series of photographs but also because I've found many species of fungi associating themselves with dark damp areas, and especially on stream banks in woodlands, and wearing waders helps me search stream banks more successfully and they afford better access in water than a pair of wellingtons.

Locally, a particularly good area to look for fungi is on the banks of the brook that runs through Bircham Valley LNR, the brook runs from Brest Road to Blunts Lane. Here quite a wide variety of fungi were found and those found include Aureoboletus, Stinking Earthfan, Earth Tongue, Dappled Webcaps, Grey Tricholoma, Dog's Stinkhorn, Cup Fungi and various Russulas; images of all these can be found in the galleries featured below.

Other good places to check are on and around fallen timber, fallen beech trees, being particularly good. You have to remember though, is that if you're ''only'' looking for mushrooms and
toadstools, you'll generally ''only'' find mushrooms and toadstools. Many fungi don't look like mushrooms and toadstools at all, and many of these are much smaller than an average sized
mushroom, so it's really the case of keeping you're eyes peeled and a case of searching slowly and methodically, to find a greater range. What I often find, is that fungi are easier to find if I've seen an image of them first, and this certainly helps. For images of fungi that lack the traditional mushroom or toadstool shape, use the links under ''Various Other Fungi'' below.

The amount of fungi to be found generally tails off after the first frost of the year and as the year gets colder towards winter, although there's usually something waiting to be discovered at most times of the year. Here I just can't wait for Autumn 2007 to come along, and hope it's as good a year as this one.

Good searching.