We never know how many people will turn up to a Friends of Adel Woods event, but today wonderful weather, and the chance to learn about fungi from the amazing Steve Joul brought out approximately forty five people including number of enthusiastic youngsters!
We met up in Alwoodley Village Green car park at 2.30 pm, and, after a short introduction, Steve led us into Adel Woods. Our first stop was a few yards along Crag Lane to inspect the remaining trunk of a mighty tree which fell about ten years ago, demolishing part of the garage next to it. This tree trunk always gives a display of numerous species of fungi, and today was no exception.
We then moved on to Alwoodley Plantation to the north of Crag Lane. Here many sharp-eyed fungi hunters brought Steve numerous specimens to identify. Steve astounded us all by his knowledge not only of their common names, but his amazing knowledge of their formal latin names.
Steve collected the specimens in a wicker basket (an essential tool of the fungi enthusiast) and at the end of the walk paused to do a recap of what we had seen and found. In all we found about twenty five species of fungi and a complete list appears at the end of this report.
The event finished at about 4.30. It was a fabulous afternoon, and the trees looked beautiful in the evening sun. An added and unexpected bonus was the appearance of a handful of bats hunting for insects in the tree canopy (not visible in the photographs).
Here is a list of the species of fungi which we found this afternoon:
Ink Cap
Sulphur Tuft
Candle Snuff
Artists Bracket
Birth Polypore
Lumpy Bracket
Puff Ball
Brown Roll Rim
Clustered Tough Shank
Red Leg Tough Shank
Purple Pore Bracket
Ochre Brittle Gill
Hairy Curtain Crust
Split Gill Pore Crust
Oystering (Crepidotus)
Buttercap Tough Shank
Oak Milk Cap
Blushing Bracket
Bay Boletus
Mycena
Yellow Stagshorn
Common Cavalier
Yellowleg Bonnet
Turkey Tail
Beech Jelly Disc
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