already fully clad for rain got rather warm. However, back at the visitor centre, Barbara
Chapman and I, having removed our waterproofs, got very wet using the facilities there,
but this was after the foray was over. We did know that this southern strip of South Essex
is the driest part of the whole of the British Isles, but even here it does sometimes rain.
The first area we explored was near the road, above the level of the pit, where there were
lots of Silver Birch and assorted willows, with a few other plants, on very sandy soil, the
sand overlying the chalk. In this area the Yellow Bird's-nest (rare and decreasing in UK)
grows, but it blooms in summer, so all we saw were dead brown dried stems which often
persist through the winter. Here we found fungi that like damp sandy places under these
trees, including, but not only; Bleached Brittlegill Russula exalbicans (aka pulchella),
Straw Fibrecap Inocybe cookei, another Fibrecap with no English name I. dulcamara,
Poisonpie Hebeloma crustuliniforme, another smaller type with no English name H.
pusillum, Bearded Milkcap Lactarius pubescens and Girdled Knight Tricholoma
cingulatum. This last gave cause for thought, as it is supposed to be linked, via its
hyphae underground, to both the Willows, especially Grey Willow, and Yellow Bird's-
nest, a three-way symbiotic system. The Grey Willow was everywhere, but the Girdled
Knight and the Yellow Bird's-nest were not, and their respective areas and patches
overlapped quite a bit, but there were also areas with the fungus but no flower, and with
the flower but no fungus. Ken Adams duly made detailed notes.
Next we went down the steps into the bottom of the pit, where we spent the rest of the
day. This was simply searching for fungi, with no further complications. Or so we thought!
We wandered around more or less on the route I had planned, and we found quite a
number of fungi, far more than I had dreamed of when I did a quick reccy the day before
to plan the route. One highlight was a rotten stick, probably of Aspen, which had at least
7 different kinds of fungus on it, but when I got it home I could not identify 3 tiny ascos
so my list only shows 4 species there (one of which was indeed a fourth tiny asco). A
good area was just below the new steps installed near the SE corner, where the old
sunken mineral railway went, so it was damp and had lots of rotting wood. Someone
spotted a White Saddle Helvella crispa, then we saw a few more. One log had a strange
growth of dark green/blue something, but neither Ken nor I really had much idea as to
what it was, even with a microscope and many books.
Other things, chiefly via Ken, aroused interest too. He spotted several bryophytes, of
which the most interesting were: a liverwort Pellea endiviifolia, another liverwort
Leiocolea turbinata, growing with a moss Dicranella varia, and another moss Fissidens
adianthoides, none of which I had ever seen before, but very beautiful and interesting
and characteristic of calcareous soils. Have you ever studied a moss or a liverwort
using a 10x or 20x hand lens? It opens up another world down there, and shows how
beautifully even these tiny things are made. Yes, I know evolution drives all this, but it
is hard to see how the decorative qualities of some of these tiny things fit them to lead
more fruitful lives.
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Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 58, January 2009