EPPING FOREST
ITS FUNGI
" You demi-puppets, that
By midnight do the green-sour ringlets make
Whereof the ewe not bites ; and you, whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms,"— The Tempest.
I do not know that it is anything to be proud of,
but, as a matter of fact, Epping Forest is blessed
with an abundance of toadstools beyond any other
district within easy reach of London. The surface
of the ground and the stems of partially decayed
trees are studded, in the autumn months, with a
great variety of forms of fungi, some remarkable
for the brilliance of their colours, others noteworthy
for their curious forms. In size they vary from
huge gnarled specimens a foot in diameter to the
minutest thread-like mildew. Some are fashioned
like parasols, others are concave and resemble vases
or goblets. Some are circular, some columnar, and
others have no defined shape at all. The colours
comprise black, pearly white, purple, orange, yellow,
and the most brilliant scarlet. Some are smooth
and satiny in appearance, others studded with
scales and bosses of darker colour. Their char-
acteristics change to an extraordinary extent with
the different stages of their growth. In duration
they vary greatly. " Many spring up in a night
and dissolve next day, or at least at the first shower
of rain. Some are so delicate that they tremble
in the hand when gathered, and, as in the case
of Coprinus radiatus, melt away if breathed upon.
Others, growing on old trees, are perennial, and
almost as hard as wood." Their simplest forms