Gosport Clough Fungal Foray

Saturday 23^rd October 2021

Leader: Steve Hindle

Fourteen people, including 12 Bradford Botany Group members, met in the car park of Shaw Park, about four miles south of Halifax on a dull, but dry, morning. Our leader for the day, Steve, told us that he works for the National Trust, carrying out surveys of grassland fungi, and that he would like us to help carry out a survey of Gosport Clough, some grasslands near to the park. The methodology of the survey, Steve explained, involved everyone walking in parallel lines, spaced about a metre apart, across the field, and people sticking yellow flags in the ground next to any fungi that they spotted.

We set off through the park, pausing to look at an interesting display of flowers in a small area of abandoned sandy ground. Here we found a species of Salvia that Jesse later confirmed as Annual Clary (Salvia viridis ‘Blue Monday’).

We saw a number of fungi species in the woodland on the way to the survey site, including: Bay Bolete, which bruises blue on the gills, Glistening Ink Cap, Dead Moll’s Fingers, Jellybaby, Candle Snuff, Common Ink Cap, Earthy Powdercap, Cep (or Penny Bun) and Amethyst Deceiver. Common Ink Cap is also called Tippler’s Bane, because it makes you very ill if you have also consumed alcohol recently. It has been used to treat alcoholics. The Earthy Powdercap is host for a parasitic fungus called the Powdercap Strangler, which takes over it's host so that the cap and upper stem of the strangler grow out of the lower stem of what would have been the Earthy Powdercap. The result is that the fruiting body is a dull violet but the stem below is orange-brown. We didn’t see the Powdercap Strangler today, but I can keep a look out for it now I know what to look for.

Cep is apparently excellent to eat, although the specimen we found was too far gone to be edible. We also saw three deer (probably Sika deer) in the adjacent fields of Stainland Deer Park, with one female coming right up to the fence to have a look at us.

Upon reaching the survey site, Steve handed us our flags (small rectangles of yellow plastic attached to metal rods) and we got into line up the steep slope. We did three sweeps of the first field, at a higher then lower level. Fungi species seen included: Ivory Coral, the apricot-coloured Meadow Waxcap, Butter Waxcap, the Scarlet Caterpillarclub, Parrot Waxcap, Pink (or Ballerina) Waxcap, Dewdrop Mottlegill, Scarlet Waxcap, Violet Coral and Slimy Waxcap.

We were fascinated to hear that the Scarlet Caterpillarclub grows on dead moth pupae. The caterpillar may consume the spores then bury underground to pupate, with the fungal mycelium then consuming the insides of the pupae. Dewdrop Mottlegill is so called because dewdrops seem to collect on its scaly stems. Several of these species are indicators of high quality unimproved grassland. Violet Coral is a rare species in Britain and Slimy Waxcap moderately so.

After completed these three transects, we had lunch at the edge of the field where there was a convenient log. We then moved onto a second field, next to the first. This time, however, instead of walking in parallel lines over the area, everybody was free to walk around the field as they wished, although still planting yellow flags next to potentially interesting fungi for Steve to check. In this field, new species for the day included Glaucous Pinkgill and Golden Waxcap. Steve was pleased that we had found the Glaucous Pinkgill, as it was a new record for the site.

As we were walking back to the car park through the woodland, good examples of Fly Agaric were seen, including a young fruiting body that was covered entirely in white warts and had no red showing at all. Peppery Bolete, which grows in association with Fly Agaric, was also seen. A very large herd of deer was present where we had seen the three deer earlier in the day.

Back at the car park, Andrew thanked Steve for leading a hugely enjoyable day. I was impressed by Steve’s knowledge of fungi. His rapid identification of the large number of species and clear explanations of the key characters of each made for a fascinating day. It was remarkable how many species we saw in what appeared at first to be an unremarkable field.

Text by Tom

Photographs by Susan