the trees and the fungi. The two are of course inseparable, since a large percentage of the larger fungi
in woodlands live in a mycorrhizal association with the trees and are dependent on the good health of
the tree. If the tree weakens then the production of fruit bodies of fungi declines (with the exception
of parasitic species which often take advantage of the tree's decline to attack the weakened tree) and
may even cease entirely. No one collecting fungi in the Forest can have failed to notice the extremely
poor seasons that have become almost the norm over the last 10 to 15 years.
Some habitats have recently been increased due to man's activity and a succession of new species
of fungi have come in along with them. The best example of this phenomenon is the rapid increase
in fungi which grow on wood chips. The practice of laying down horse rides with a covering of wood
chips (and of mulching with bark chips in parks and gardens) has seen several formerly scarce or rare
species now become quite common. Psilocybe cyanescens, first reported in this country from Kew,
has now appeared in the Forest area on wood chips and if it follows the example of other wood-chip
rides in southern England may be expected to rapidly colonise extensive areas. This species
incidentally was almost certainly an introduction to this country from warmer climes, perhaps North
America where it is quite common on the west coast. Other species include members of the genus
Pluteus which are to be seen, often in large numbers, along the edges of rides; Cystoderma
amianthinum which unexpectedly has shown a liking for this habitat, and Hypholoma marginatum
which appeared in huge numbers in 1984.
The simple practice of using bulldozers to clear and open up trails, leaving heaps of turned over soil
along the edges has also resulted in some species taking advantage of this fresh habitat. A track of
this sort in the Lower Forest north of Epping has supported fruiting bodies numbering in the thousand
of Hypholoma subericaeum throughout late September and into October this year. This is normally
a rather uncommon species in the Forest as a whole.
The last few years have seen the dramatic gale force winds which swept across southern England,
and in Epping Forest as in so many other woodlands, enormous numbers of trees were blown over or
have subsequently fallen where their roots were loosened in the soil. Some of these trees have been
cut up and removed, but many are still lying and it is be expected that this will lead to an increase in
the fungi that attack such timber, especially on Beech which is the commonest tree affected. Already
large numbers of Oudemansiella mucida, the beautiful Porcelain fungus, have appeared and Pluteus
cervinus and Pluteus salicinus are also both undergoing population explosions.
Such 'disasters' are, of course, quite natural and are part of the ever changing ecology of any
woodland and although it is natural to look on them as tragic losses to our environment, they are
nevertheless beneficial to many organisms. A similar 'tragedy' was the spread of Elm disease which
killed thousands of trees and has changed the English landscape for many years to come. This led,
however, to an enormous increase in the species of fungi and insects which feed on dead Elm and
formerly rare species, such as Volvariella bombycina, were to be seen everywhere, although their
numbers are once again dropping as the supply of newly dead Elms diminishes Our landscape, and
our woodlands, are so intertwined historically with man's activities that we forget just how 'artificial'
our countryside is and Epping Forest is no exception. Doubtless as the years progress and we get a
firmer idea of the way the climate is progressing - whether for better or for worse - we shall observe
that the fungi will adapt along with it, the flora will certainly change and we shall see new species
appear and familiar ones will become scarcer. In the meantime there is still an enormous amount of
study needed to give us an accurate picture of the total fungal flora as it stands at the present time.
A Review of the Species List
When A. A. Pearson published his Fungi of Epping Forest in 1938 he included a total of 745 species
of Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes, no Ascomycetes were dealt with. This list in turn was based
on some earlier works such as the list of Epping Forest fungi by M. C. Cooke (1881) which contains
338 species, and various species included by J. Ramsbottom (1932) in his History of Mycology in
Essex. Also included were a number of species recorded in issues of the Essex Naturalist and records
made by the British Mycological Society.
The list continued to expand slowly over succeeding years until in 1970 Doreen Boardman published
her up-dated list The Fungi of Epping Forest Part 1, Basidiomycetes. This brought a welcome revision
to the old nomenclature of Pearson and added a further 92 species, as well as showing which species
on Pearson's list had been re-recorded since 1938. These additions, with the loss of some of Pearson's
records due to synonymy etc.. resulted in a combined total of 785 species.
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