Tread softly, for you tread on my mushrooms
JUST in time for Hallowe’en, toadstools are popping up in their droves across the country in response to weeks of wet weather. These include rare varieties, those red-andwhite spotted ones so often seen in fairy-tale illustrations, usually with a goblin perching underneath (better known as fly agaric or Amanita muscaria, below), and even an abundance of fairy rings—just don’t step inside one or you’ll fall asleep for 100 years (possibly). The RHS is calling it a ‘mushroom explosion’. A puffball (above) that was bigger than a human head was found at RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey—similarly, they’re larger than footballs at Birkstead Gardens and Nursery, Newcastle—and some earthstars have sprouted, which puff out spores when squeezed. Meanwhile, a rare octopus stinkhorn or devil’s fingertips (Clathus archeri, below right) has popped up at RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon. An impressive 102 species were recorded in only two hours at Hestercombe, Somerset. Mushrooms are growing so big in Newcastle, at Birkstead, that one visitor was genuinely offended at the sight of a common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus)—the clue is in the Latin. Fairy-tale devotees in search of fly agarics should head to Burrow Farm Gardens and Stone Lane Gardens, Devon, and Normanby Hall Country Park, Lincolnshire, where they are flourishing in abundance, although we can’t speak for the little folk. ‘Fairy rings are annoying on lawns,’ admits Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the RHS, ‘but, for the most part, fungi are beneficial to gardeners. They break down organic matter in the soil and elsewhere, turning it into plant food. They also feed a host of microbes, which are important for biodiversity. Some are associated with plant roots and, in exchange for sugars with which to grow, can protect roots from attack by harmful organisms and may supply them with water and nutrients in times of shortage.’