Venture out on a fungal foray

Liz Holden is a member of the British Mycological Society

This year is proving to be a bumper one for fungi.

Fungal forays are taking place across the UK with people eager to discover what mushrooms and toadstools they can find and identify.

Mycologist Liz Holden, explains what to look for: "Mushrooms and toadstools of all sorts of shapes, sizes, colours and textures are springing up in woodlands and grasslands at this time of the year.

"These mushrooms and toadstools are the 'fruiting' structures - a bit like the apples on a tree - of the actual fungal organism, which is a network of threadlike, filamentous cells that function unseen by human eyes, in the dead wood, soil or whatever other substrate the fungus is living in.

"A very few feed from living plants but most are either breaking down and recycling dead plant material or living in a symbiotic relationship with plants and trees making them a vital part of all habitats."

'Stay safe'

Liz continues: "Going out into the woodland a few days after rain and before the really heavy frosts can be a most rewarding experience just to enjoy the sheer diversity of fungi there.

In pictures: Fungi

"Some of our most sought after culinary mushrooms including Chanterelle and Penny Bun can only be collected from woodlands - nobody has found a way to farm the fruit bodies of these species yet. They are present in many of our woodlands although seasoned harvesters will closely guard their favourite locations!

Mushrooms and toadstools are in abundance in autumn

"For those who are keen to eat wild mushrooms, there are no short cuts to identifying a fungus. You really have to get to know what characters make a particular species what it is."

"Enjoy the autumn fungal spectacular but stay safe and don't risk eating anything that you are unsure of."

Never eat any form of fungi that you cannot safely identify.

Edible mushrooms and poisonous toadstools can be similar in appearance. Use a field guide or join an expert on a guided walk to ensure correct identification.