Colourful Fungi in Kelsey Park

by Bill Welch

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria,
under an Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica f. glauca,
in Kelsey Park, Beckenham. October 2012.

As you walk through Kelsey Park, you might not notice beneath your feet some unusual and colourful growths. There are quite a few to be found, mostly in the Autumn, though some will appear at other times.

When you see a fungus, you are really only seeing a small part of the whole thing. Tiny fibres extend in a widespread net throughout whatever they are growing on, whether that is the earth or a tree, and what you are looking at is a fruiting body, a temporary structure whose purpose is to produce and distribute tiny spores which will float away on the breeze.

Glutinous Waxcap, Hygrocybe glutinipes,
in Kelsey Park, Beckenham.
October 2012.

Unlike green plants, fungi do not rely on sunlight to grow and prosper. Instead, they get their food from other sources. Many of them are expert recyclers, taking their energy from rotting plant or animal matter and helping to return its consituent parts into the ecosystem.

Others have a relationship with the trees and plants around them, acting as an extension to their root system and taking some of their nutrients in return. Some are purely parasitic, and will eventually kill the plant (or sometimes, animal) they are growing on.

Honey Fungus, Armillaria mellea,
in Kelsey Park, Beckenham. October 2012.

The photos here were taken in the park in October 2012. It had not been a very good year for fungi, but we still found quite a few. The red cap spotted with white is a well-known toadstool, a Fly Agaric, and it's poisonous, so please be careful around it. We found several growing under an Atlantic Cedar. This is one of the fungi that latches onto tree roots but does not kill the tree; the relationship seems to be a happy one.

There are several stories about this fungus. One is that it got its name from being seen surrounded by dead flies, but this seems unlikely given that no-one seems to see such a thing these days.

Golden Waxcap, Hygrocybe chlorophana,
in Kelsey Park, Beckenham. October 2012.

Alternatively, it might have been used mashed into milk as a fly trap. But however poisonous it might be to humans, and possibly flies, some creatures love it. Slugs like fungi in general and are particularly fond of this species, so much so that it's hard to find one that hasn't been nibbled.

Some fungi like lawns, and will pop up in short grass, and you can find them right under your feet if you look carefully. We found several species in the grass south of the visitor centre, including the Glutinous Waxcap shown here. Just the top of one cap was visible until I carefully pushed the grass aside, revealing an extremely slimy little fungus.

Orange Peel Fungus, Aleuria aurantia,
in Kelsey Park, Beckenham. October 2012.

There were other waxcaps, too; the Parrot Waxcap, which is a green slimy one, and the Golden Waxcap, not slimy at all and rather beautiful. Also in the short grass were clumps of yellow spindles, the Golden Club.

One of the photos shows two clumps of a larger fungus growing at the base of a tree. This is the Honey Fungus. It causes a white rot and is a tree killer. It spreads by sending out tough black bootlace-like strands called rhizomorphs, and you can sometimes see networks of these under the bark of fallen trees. These give it its alternative name of Bootlace Fungus.

The last photo is a young Orange Peel Fungus, growing on bare ground in between patches of grass in a spot where there used to be a beech tree. The individual fruiting bodies are quite small, only about an inch across, but will get to double that size or more when they mature. It's easy to see how this name came about.

Elsewhere in the park we found Rustgills, Clouded Funnels, Fairy Inkcaps and others with equally exotic names. It's worth watching for them!