6
Mycology in Epping Forest - A status report. G. Kibby
At the Essex Field Club's foray in Epping Forest in
1980 one of the first specimens collected was Boletus leonis,
a species rare throughout southern England and a new record for
the Forest. This, despite the fact that the boletes are one of
the best known groups in the area, frequently collected (indeed
they are one of the author's own specialities) and quite easy
to identify. As an example of the state of mycology in the
Forest area this record is typical - after more than a century
of collecting and almost continuous recording new species are
still being found at a rate of about 8-10 per year.
This reflects two distinct types of records: the first,
as in the example above, represent very distinct and quite new
species never collected before; the second is the splitting off
from existing species new species based on various small or
microscopic differences. They may have been collected many
times but have never formerly been distinguished. The best
example of this type is Leccinum (Boletus) scabrum which has
now been split into about 6 taxa all of which are now known to
occur in the Forest area. Similarly Stropharia cyanea has
been split off from S.aeruginosa and indeed is the commoner of
the two species. Thus in many instances early records, not
backed up by herbarium material are unfortunately suspect,
I do not believe the constant discovery of new species
to be at all unusual, in fact I am sure many more could be
found if the expertise and collecting time could be increased;
the Forest is a large area with a multitude of micro habitats
all rich in species, but no specialist can cover all groups or
all localities so much remains neglected. Examples of groups
badly in need of reappraisal are Mycena, Pluteus, Clitocybe
Rhodophyllaceae, Cortinarius, Coprinus, Psathyrella and the
Polyporaceae. Although we have a respectable list of all these
on our records they are rarely studied or reported now. Equally
parts of the Forest are rarely searched such as the Lower Forest
the Debden area or the northern edge of the Forest proper. The
annual E.F.C. fungus foray of course continues to provide
valuable records but it is held of necessity in the
same area and at about the same time each year, so it does not
reflect a complete picture of the flora.
Since the previous list gathered together by the late Mrs.
Boardman in 1970 some 100 additional species have been recorded
in 29 genera. Naturally many reflect the personal interests of
the recorder e.g. 18 new boletes, 10 Russulas etc. and all