Agaricus xanthoderma. The scarcest of the five is Agaricus comtulus, which has appeared
at three sites in recent years, but when it comes to rarity value it is outshone by the striking,
shaggy-capped Leucoagaricus barssii (=macrorhizus). Legon & Henrici (2005) list south
Essex among the six English counties from where it has been reliably reported and it was,
I believe, recorded from a roadside verge at Writtle a few years ago, an article appearing in
the Newsletter at the time. Another important habitat for fungi in front gardens is the
buried stumps or dead roots on trees and shrubs that outlived their usefulness and late
autumn often sees a fine flush of Coprinus micaceus and disseminatus, Hypholoma
fasciculare, Flammulina velutipes, Pleurotus ostreatus and Psathyrella candolleana.
Occasional Coprinus atramentarius and domesticus, Micromphale foetidum, Panellus
stipticus, Pluteus cervinus and Resupinatus applicatus provide variety; so too, on one
occasion, a particularly handsome specimen of Polyporus squamosus, a species which
seems to be in serious decline since the days of my youth. A rotting doormat proved to be
ideal habitat for both Arrhenia acerosa and Peziza badius, but their appearance, alas,
prompted the householderto replace it! Woodchips, though, have proved to be disappointing,
perhaps because they are seldom applied in sufficient quantity. All the bright orange fungi
that have appeared - raising hopes of some of the exotic species reported from Kew and
elsewhere - have turned out to be the mundane Gymnopilus penetrans. There have been a
couple of good finds, though : Macrocystidia cucumis on the rotting sawdust of a felled
tree and the alien (possibly North American) Collybia fuscopurpurea, which fruited in
profusion on mulch in the tiniest of flowerbeds in 2002. Once a great rarity, it has apparently
become much commoner in southern England in recent years, but the record still needs
confirmation. Finally, woodland species, as you would expect, are a little thin on the ground
but both Lactarius tomentosus and Paxillus involutus occur under birch a from time to
time and one of the few Fagus trees on the estate has provided the only parish records of
two beech-loving species of Lactarius - biennis and subdulcis. There is also a wonderful
greensward, fronting The Quorn, which I pass on my way back to the Post Office each
morning, the grass below the mature pines, limes, oaks and other trees on the edge of it
being littered with fungi some autumn mornings, finds here including large numbers of
Amanita muscaria and Amanita excelsor var. spissa, Lyophyllum fumosum, Clitocybe odora,
Boletus luridus, Suillus bovinus and Chroogomphus rutilus.
Botany and mycology have provided relief to the tedium of delivering junk mail on many
days over the years - you ought to see my list of bryophytes - and I hope I haven't alarmed
too many of my customers by rooting around on their lawns. Usually, I ask permission and
most often the response is either one of amusement or bemusement but occasionally there
is a more enthusiastic, inquisitive approach from people who, at a later date, stop to ask
about the identification of some mushroom or plant they have found in their garden. There
have been many surveys of garden wildlife over the years but I am not sure that many have
included fungi -although a trawl of the Internet would probably surprise me. For someone
like myself, though, who still retains painful memories of long hot days spent tramping the
arable prairies of Essex in search of plants for the BSBI Atlas, the wildlife riches to be
found in gardens, including my own, are something to savour.
18
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 52, January 2007