4
MYCOLOGY IN ESSEX - RECENT RECORDS
The last three years have seen a welcome increase in rain and a return to almost normal of
the water table with a subsequent rise in fruiting of fungi. This year in particular parts of
Epping Forest were fruiting as I have not seen for over ten years, and some species
normally very rare in the forest were out in abundance.
As one of the ancient woodlands of southern England Epping Forest has an enormous list
of species of the larger fungi. This is only to be expected in a forest with a diverse series
of habitats, a record of forest cover extending back many thousands of years and still with
large numbers of very old, mature trees. Year after year of drought however - or at best
irregular weather patterns - have produced a period extending from the worst drought in
1976 to the present, of very poor fruiting of fungi with a reduction of the diversity of
species to be seen. Note the last three wrods "to be seen"; just because the fruitbodies are
not present does not mean the fungi have vanished; they may be growing (albeit with
difficulty) but just not fruiting due to the adverse conditions.
Perhaps the best recent example has been the reappearance in large numbers of
Hygrophilous eburneus in the mature beech woods of Monks Wood. Although present
on all the old lists and recorded sporadically in recent years I have never seen such
extensive fruitings as appeared this year. A welcome return to conditions as they should
be.
Epping Forest continues to be the main source of new records and a list of these finds is
appended; however, Tony Boniface is making a wonderful study of a number of Essex
churchyards which has also produced many fascinating records. He will report on these
himself in a forthcoming article. One of the most fascinating day's recording this year
occurred on the day of the EFC foray to The Brookes Nature Reserve.
Although the records from the site were interesting there was little of any great surprise,
except perhaps the very large numbers of Armillaria tabescens (the "ringless" Armillaria)
which is a very scarce species in this county, only appearing in years with a good, hot
summer; almost every oak stump in the area had large clusters of this species.
The best finds of the day were made by Pam Kirby who did not join the rest of us on the
walk but who went off to make some paintings of local scenery and happened to stop by
Greenstead Green Church. She came back clutching a beautiful Boletus species which 1
recognised as Boletus regius, a red-capped species never recorded in Essex before to the
best of my knowledge. It usually likes calcareous soils so was something of a surprise
since although we were fairly far north in the county we were not supposed to be on any
of the known calcareous outcroppings.
A number of us therefore went back to the churchyard and proceeded to make some
remarkable finds. Two other species of bolete -Boletus moravicus and B. queletii were
found under mature oaks in short grass. The first of these is a veiy rare species found
only once before in Essex in Epping Forest (see appended list) also under oaks. It is a
rich, tawny coloured species with pale ochre tubes and appears to be rare throughout
Europe. There is a good illustration in The Mushrooms of Switzerland Vol 3 by
Breitenbach & Krantzlin 1993. Boletus queletii is also very rare in Essex although
commoner further south where it once again prefers calcareous soils. It is a beautiful
species with a reddish-brown cap, orange red tubes and a speckled stem shading to
rhubarb-red at the base. Its flesh stains deep blue when cut.