Wet weather fungus boom

IT’S BEEN a fairly wet autumn but, so far, not particularly cold. These are ideal conditions for many species of fungus and when I take the dog for a walk in the woods they’re everywhere, in a multitude of different shapes, colours and sizes.

The whole forest actually smells of mushrooms at present.

It’s old, mixed-species woodland, slightly neglected, where many fallen trees and branches are left to rot where they lie. This is ideal fungus habitat, though they’re not, of course, restricted to woods. Some species grow in grassland, or even on dung-heaps, and a remarkable number grow on peat-land.