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Wealden Times | WT213 | November 2019 | Gift supplement inside

Wealden Times - The lifestyle magazine for the Weald

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Garden<br />

Bottom left: Powdery mildew on courgettes. Top right:<br />

Many zoned polypore fungus in the wood. Middle right:<br />

Cep and truffles at Menton market. Photo taken by<br />

Caroline Brennan. Bottom right: Amanita muscaria<br />

access to carbohydrate stores, the mycorrhizal fungus<br />

will benefit the trees/plants to absorb minerals and water<br />

with its absorbent mycelium (a network of fine white<br />

filaments) expanding the root system of the host plants.<br />

Some fungi are species specific like Fly Agaric (Amanita<br />

muscaria) which is associated with silver birch (Betula<br />

pendula). This fungi is the stuff of fairy tales and children’s<br />

books with its bright red cap. I have to say that I don’t think<br />

that I have ever seen one, neither have I spotted the bright<br />

orange/yellow Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)<br />

which, unlike the Fly Agaric which is definitely not, is<br />

edible. That’s probably because Fly Agaric fungi tend to be<br />

found in mixed woodlands and heaths growing on a light,<br />

well-drained soil amongst birch and evergreens, such as<br />

spruce and pines, rather than on our heavy <strong>Wealden</strong> clay.<br />

Wandering around the dried out woods near home<br />

earlier in the week in the forlorn hope of spotting some<br />

handsome fungi I met a runner who was holidaying<br />

from lovely Derbyshire. He was telling me that it has<br />

been a very wet summer for them unlike us in the<br />

parched South East and that there is plenty of Chicken<br />

of the Woods on their oak trees up there. He also said<br />

that their trees had made noticeable growth spurts.<br />

And a couple of days later, walking this time in Dulwich<br />

Park in London (oh, there are some spectacular trees in<br />

that park. Particularly wondrous is a giant Turkey Oak,<br />

Quercus cerris, with its branches coming down around<br />

it just like a massive skirt), we spotted a fenced off area<br />

where the information board boasted pictures of this<br />

particular bracket fungus. I wondered if they would<br />

have minded us cutting off a bit of one to fry up with<br />

a little garlic, oil and butter when we got home…<br />

“Fly Agaric fungi tend to be<br />

found in mixed woodlands<br />

and heaths growing on a light,<br />

well-drained soil amongst<br />

birch and evergreens”<br />

wealdentimes.co.uk<br />

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