Later on in the week on 10"' November Shirley Watson led a foray in Hatfield Forest.
Despite most specimens being small and distorted we found eleven species of waxcaps
confirming the status of the forest as one of our three sites of national importance for
them. These were H. punicea, H. reidii, H. coccinea, H. chlorophana, H. conica var.
conica, H. virginea var. ochraceopallida, H. russocoriacea, H. psittacina var. psittacina,
H. pratensis var. pratensis, H. insipida and H. ceracea. One medium sized specimen
caused considerable interest. It was yellow-orange with conspicuous transverse gills
joining the normal ones together. I tentatively identified it as H. aurantiosplendens.
This species has been doubtfully recorded once before in Essex so I dried it and sent it
to Kew. Peter Roberts confirmed my identification so that we now have a Red Data
book species on the forest waxcap list.
We also found Lactarius camphoratus, reputably smelling of curry but to my nose after
drying it and placing it in a pot for several minutes it reminded me of burnt currants. A
pale red Russula luteotacta was collected under hornbeam.
Previously on 2nd November 1 had visited Hitchcocks Meadows in Danbury with David
Williams. We found nine species of waxcaps including a magnificent display of H.
punicea and also one specimen of H. intermedia which has been recorded here before.
The other waxcaps found were H. chlorophana, H. conica var. conica, H. pratensis var.
pratensis, H. coccinea, H. psittacina var. psittacina, H. virginea var. ochraceopallida
and H. insipida. This site and Chelmsford cemetery are both therefore sites of regional
importance for waxcaps. We also found Russula heterophylla , which is one of two
species of brittle gills with flexible gills, but this one gave a salmon colour when rubbed
with an iron sulphate crystal instead of no reaction or a slight green colour given by the
species known as the charcoal burner.
So in the end we had an excellent year for waxcaps which were at their best in November
perhaps because of the earlier dry weather in September and October. This pattern seems
to be the situation we now have in the county. Could this be the result of global warming?
Hatfield Forest Fungus Foray, 10 November 2005
Shirley Watson 18 Thorley Park Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 3NQ
The weather forecast was not good, however twenty people turned up, even though
some set out in rain. All had different levels of expertise and knowledge; still everyone
enjoyed learning from each other - seeing many old calcareous grassland species for the
first time. For some it was a change from bird watching with all eyes down on the
ground, instead of looking skywards. We remarked on the small size of- often distorted
fungi, pondering whether the dry summer contributed to these. A few species were "twins"
with one cap sharing two stipes (or stipe).
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 49, January 2006
29