Wolves Wild

Snowy waxcaps: the ones forcing their way through the carpet of fallen leaves looked like a lot fresher snow than those in short grass.

An acer by the Southgate entrance to West Park with leaves which had turned a very bright red. They’ve probably fallen by now.

Glossy ripe red woody nightshade berries, and glossy green ones still ripening. Tempting they may look, but eating would produce an upset stomach.

Growing among the vegetation planted along the front of the big town centre branch of Sainsbury’s, two species of mushrooms – both rather past their best when I noticed them. The brown ones are roll rims, the paler ones perhaps some species of milk cap.

There’s a short row of purple beautyberry bushes in West Park. Three of the four bushes loose their leaves before the berries ripen in the autumn. I recently noticed that the smallest bush, at the end of the row I rarely pass, keeps leaves and ripe berries at the same time.

Giant polypores usually grow as several separate clumps of fungal fruiting bodies, looking like bracket fungi but appearing to sprout directly from the soil. Almost invariably, the clumps are a few feet from a tree stump: they’re springing from the roots.

The scene looks rural and peaceful. When I took it, I was standing on the bridge which carries the busy Wolverhampton – Wednesfield road across the canal, with the Bentley Bridge shops directly behind me.

Scalycaps growing from tree stumps. Two different stumps, and there may be two different species of scalycap. One set were definitely shaggy scalycaps. The others may also have been, or were perhaps golden scalycaps.

Mushrooms with yellow stems and caps which become browner towards the centre, growing in clusters on the stumps of dead trees, sulfur tufts.

There’s a chance of spotting them not just in autumn, but through the winter. They’re a species which can survive being frozen solid then thawed out again.

A sweetgum by the lake in West Park, with autumn leaves in vivid shades of red and yellow. Since the picture was taken, most of the leaves have been brought down.