Blackening waxcaps are small mushrooms which change colour from an ocherous yellow to black. The process has just begun on the first fungus.
These are somewhat further down the road.
From here, the toadstools are well on the way to complete blackening.
They are small enough to be half-hidden in short grass, as are other waxcaps.
These were in the lawn of flats near to West Park.
They don’t trap their prey in a web. Instead, they hunt by stalking and leaping.
On one of the plants being grown in the Conservatory, Bantock House.
Cuckoo spit can be found on many plants in late spring/early summer. Nothing to do with the increasingly rare bird, but a protective foam for an insect larva, a froghopper. This one was on the top of a nettle which was going to seed.
Scrambled egg slime is also known as dog vomit slime. It is common on dead wood, including wood mulch, in wet conditions. So no surprise this arrived this summer.
It was on a tree stump which was also playing host to a bracket fungus, probably some kind of polypore.
Twenty-four hours after these pictures were taken, all that was left of the slime was a dark stain on the wood where it had been.
Yellow staining mushrooms looks rather like the edible field and horse mushrooms, but it is a seriously bad idea to eat them.
The first warning sign is the strong yellow colour when the mushroom is cut, broken or scraped: the colour eventually turns to a dull brown. The colour is showing on these mushrooms, especially in patches on the rims of the caps of the second and third.
This odd-looking fungus is a Ramaria or coral fungus. There are several species which are approximately this yellowish colour.
A second fruiting body, very near the first.
Another picture of the specimen in the top picture. This shot was taken under overcast conditions, and seems to show that the tips (of the basiocarps) are a more vivid yellow colour.
A common but not very conspicuous weed, groundsel is a plant with wind-dispersed seeds. It’s another plant where this stage is claimed to resemble the beard of an old man.
Horse mushrooms seem to like the conditions in East Park. These were growing in a patch near the cycle track
The wet weather in June was enjoyed by snails and slugs. This one was conveniently at eye level.
The stem supporting these seeds was as tall as me.
A patch of these large mushrooms was growing in the leafy glade in East Park. Rather like a larger version of the field mushroom, alias the common supermarket mushroom, and reputedly even better to eat.
The fly which features on the first and third pictures certainly seems to think so. I have never tried them. Should you wish to do so, take care not to pick the yellow staining mushroom instead. They come out at about the same time – I am going to post some pictures in a couple of days.
