NATURE The Common Puffball
Foraging for fungi
with Niall Bell, Wildlife and Landscape Photographer Instagram: @naturewithniall
In this edition, I wanted to share something that interests me personally but also what I think more people should have an understanding of – fungi.
Firstly, I need to clarify what I mean when I say fungi. Fungi make up an entire kingdom of organisms and come in all shapes, sizes and types. One of those types are mushrooms but not all fungi grow mushrooms. I know, I was surprised at first too. Of the 43,000 described species, only about
Chicken of
the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)
This is a favourite amongst mushroom foragers. It has thick fleshy caps that grow in stacks, usually from the sides of trees. They get their name from their likeness to fried chicken.
Species in the Laetiporus genus tend to be bright orange/ yellow when young which makes them really easy to spot. Look on hardwood trees or stumps between August to October. This species of fungi is known as a ‘Brown Rot’ fungus because it tends to break down the white cellulose in the wood leaving behind the brown lignin.
Interesting Fact: Chicken of the
Woods is a valuable food source for lots of wildlife including deer and the Hairy Fungus Beetle.
15,000 of them grow mushrooms. But for reference, when I say fungi in this article, I actually mean any fungi that grow mushrooms.
What’s fun about fungi foraging? Going out into the woods looking for mushrooms can seem a bit boring or strange to some, but it really isn’t. I sometimes find looking for wildlife, particularly animals, frustrating; they can be difficult to find. But fungi are literally everywhere and for that reason it’s really easy to find something cool, making fungi hunting a rewarding way to get out into nature.
Chicken of the Woods
Where to look: Fungi grow pretty much
everywhere: forests, fields, houses, rivers, deserts and even the Greenland ice-sheet.
The best place I have found to find fungi is in woodlands a day or so after rain. Different types of woodland host different species, so just head to your nearest woods and start looking. Pine woodland is particularly good.
What to look for: Here are some of the more common species you may find while out exploring.
The Common
Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)
Mica Caps (Coprinellus micaceus)
Mica Caps
Mica Caps are a small sprawling mushroom that can be found anytime in spring/ summer and even sometimes in winter. They grow from moist deadwood in dense clusters and can completely cover the logs they grow on. As a saprobic fungus, they ‘eat’ dead decomposing stuff, normally wood. This makes them one of nature’s recyclers, putting nutrients that are locked up in the wood back into the soil for other plants to use.
They are a yellowish-brown colour with thin lines running from the top to the bottom of the cap. The cap is usually fringed with a darker colour near the bottom. Interesting Fact: As the
mushroom matures, its protective veil breaks up into tiny beads that are highly reflective. This gives it another common name, the glistening ink cap.
A small but mighty fungus, this fungus gets its name from the spore dispersal method. When a bird, hiker, raindrop or insect exerts a force on the puffball’s cap, such as a nudge or kick, millions of spores are ejected from the top in a puff. This can be seen in action in the photo above. Puffballs can be found July to November by looking out for clumps of white club-like fungi, usually on deadwood. The white surface is often dotted with little spikes or warts. Mature puffballs are brown with a small hole on top. If you see one give it a poke; just be careful not to inhale many spores as they can cause lung irritation. Interesting Fact: In traditional medicine, the spores of Puffballs were used to reduce bleeding when dressing wounds.
There are some rather diverse fungi that you can find quite easily in the local area. Go out, look under logs, on trees, around deadwood and in fields. If you find anything, take a photo. When you get home have a look on the internet to see if you can identify them. This is all part of the fun.
And finally…
NEVER EAT WILD MUSHROOMS UNLESS PREPARED BY AN EXPERT.
Young Common Puffballs
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