Fungi finds, field maple, hawkmoth caterpillar

Time to head outside to meet the Autumn wonder

I believe this is Laccaria laccata, the deceiver mushroom, but I’m not totally sure yet. Identifying some fungi is really easy because they’re distinctive, while others are really hard because they look similar to tens or even hundreds of other species!

While there are fungi to be found all through the year, I look forward to autumn so much these days to see what fungi we find. Fungi are a whole other kingdom of life-form to plants and animals, and it is a vast and interesting one to explore. Adding a whole new dimension to our experience of the world. Over the last few years, I haven’t stressed about learning lots of fungi, but through curiosity the names have been going into my head and I now know many of them.

The main things to look for to identify them initially are habitat, location in the country, time of year, overall shape, cap shape, stem shape, texture, colouring. It’s amazing how you start to see distinctive details you never thought were there when you really begin to look…