The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the 'thing' or 'things' that Ken hoicked out of
the lake to show us. We saw a large, bright green, but almost transparent, jelly blob, with
lobes on it, big enough to fill the palms of both hands. He told us 'it' was a colonial ciliate
(and thus 'they'), held in a matrix of jelly, but each feeds independently, mostly on tiny
algae and bacteria. They were called Ophrydium versatile. Don't bother putting this name
into Google, as you get pics of all sorts of things that are nowhere near them! The green
colour was due to symbiotic algae which photosynthesise, and are not always present.
These organisms are rare, but luckily you can read all about them, or maybe you have
already, in the recent issue of the Essex Naturalist. We were mightily impressed at something
so alien! We did suggest that maybe it/they is/are so rare because others, seeing it/them,
had no idea how to begin to find out what it/they was/were, or had no idea who to ask for
help. And, since it/they was/were in the water of the lake, it took a trained eye even to spot
that something was there! On any field meeting, Ken is always an inspiration!
Back home, I identified 42 different species of fungi, and I compared it with last year's
list at about the same time, which had 40 species. Only just over one third of both lists
were the same species. Thank you Ken, Barbara and Graham Price, who all helped the
day along.
A full species list is available on request from Mary
Fungus foray to Blakes Wood, Little Baddow on 19 October 2008
Barbara Chapman 20 Lindon Road, Runwell, Wickford SSH 7LR
Owned by the National Trust since 1956, Blakes Wood is a compact block of broadleaved
woodland, 42 ha (104 acres) in size, lying on the Danbury Ridge. It is an ancient and
altered semi-natural site; an ancient, formerly coppiced wood, surrounded by an old
bank, is adjacent to secondary woodland where there are remains of ridge and furrow,
giving evidence of past farming activities. It is a very diverse woodland with varied
habitats which support a locally unrivalled species list of flora and fauna. Noted for its
spectacular spring flowers and visited by many people, Blakes Wood is also listed as
having a good fungal population.
Ajoint foray by Wickford Wildlife Society and Essex Field Club resulted in 9 attendees.
We were met by the Warden, Richard Wallace, who gave us a short introduction to the
wood and provided helpful maps. He guided us around and pointed out items of interest
whilst we collected specimens. As with other forays this autumn, the recent dry weather
had affected the amount of fungi to be found, but even so the list came out at 60 species.
The morning collection yielded many of the commoner species, among them the False
Death Cap Amanita citrina, Butter Cap Collybia butyracea, Glistening Inkcap Coprinus
micaceus, Lilac Bonnet Mycenapura, and the Common Earthball Scleroderma citrinum.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 58, January 2009
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