Daldinia concentrica, also known as King Alfred's Cakes or Cramp Balls can be seen on the dead wood of broadleaf trees, most commonly ash, and can be seen throughout the year in Ireland and the UK. Young Cramp Balls are red to brown with a matte surface. When they mature they become hard, black and… Continue reading Daldinia Concentrica, King Alfred’s Cakes, Cramp Balls
I am rolling the clock back to September 2020, when I first went to what has become one of my favourite foraying spots in County Wicklow. The abundance and diversity of species took me off guard and I spotted many different fungi including boletes, brackets, puffballs, cauliflower fungi, fly agaric, Elfin saddle, and many more.… Continue reading Daedaleopsis confragosa, Blushing Bracket, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
In the unseasonably warm end of December, I was walking in my favourite local woods and spotted these fancy, frilly, distinctive fungi growing out of some decaying timber almost buried by leaves. I couldn't identify the timber but the woods are mixed, deciduous woodlands. Sheathed woodtufts, Kuehneromyces mutabilis, are known to dry from the middle,… Continue reading Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Sheathed Woodtuft, Co. Kildare, Ireland
Laccaria amethystina, Eskrigg Nature Reserve, Dumfries and Galloway Laccaria amethystina, Amethyst Deceiver, is another of my favourites, on account of its distinct colour. They can camouflage amongst the autumnal leaves and other forest litter in dark woods, in their majestic plum tones, but even more so when older when they can be mistaken for their… Continue reading Laccaria amethystina, Amethyst Deceivers
C. viscosa, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, November '23 Calocera viscosa, common English name Yellow Stagshorn. These little yellow antlers grow from dead conifers, including stumps and roots. Some may look as though they grow from soil but a little digging can reveal buried wood or long roots penetrating into tree roots. Their beautiful bright yellow colour… Continue reading Calocera viscosa, Yellow Stagshorn
A Lesson and a Correction In my 2024 Calendar I cited these as Scutellinia sp. I recently discovered it was something a little different. It's been almost 10 years ago since I spotted these tiny orange discs in the gravel of a long driveway flanked by a neglected olive grove and agave in Sicily. The… Continue reading Melastiza sp., Monte Altore, Sicily
I remember when I first saw Mucidula mucida. I was on a Buddhist retreat in Co. Wicklow 5 years ago. The theme was connecting with nature. The retreat was very rural, with part of the Wicklow Way running along the top side of the property, Coillte forestry on the other side of the trail but… Continue reading Mucidula mucida, Porcelain Fungus, South Kildare, Ireland
Introducing the Mushroomination Calendar for 2024! The calendar is €12.99 (plus P & P) and printed to order from Lulu.com, the calendar features a different seasonal mushroom for each month. I have spent many years photographing mushrooms and fungi wherever I find them, to identify them, study them and wonder over them. I'm delighted to… Continue reading Mushroomination Calendar 2024
Game of Shrooms is an international art holiday founded by artist 'Daniel 'Attaboy' Seifert' in 2019, and this year I am delighted to be taking part as an artist and an art hunter! The idea is that artists hide mushroom related art works for people to find and keep. They will be in place for… Continue reading Game of Shrooms! Dublin, Ireland!
Lepista nuda, 28th December 2015 In 2015, I was living and volunteering in the west of Sicily, for a Maltese environmental NGO whose aims at the time were to build an eco-community/eco-tourist village in the mountains between the beautiful villages of Vizzini and Licodia-Eubea. Villas had been in the area historically for at least a… Continue reading Lepista nuda, Wood Blewit, Sicily
21/11/22 At the end of November I worked remotely from my parents’ lovely house in rural Nottinghamshire. I owe much to my mum for inspiring my interest in mushrooms, she’s really excellent at spotting them and her love for nature in general, is infectious. In their garden, they’ve had some great fungal wonders including Gliophorus… Continue reading Mutinus caninus, Dog stinkhorn, Nottinghamshire, UK
On a lovely foraging workshop in October, led by the delightful Nicole from Howth Foraging - in a mixed woodland in County Dublin, Ireland, I spotted many treasures, not necessarily good for eating, but catching my eye none-the-less. My favourite find was the so-called Ugly Milkcap, Lactarius turpis. I have an affection for things nicknamed… Continue reading Lactarius turpis, Ugly milkcap, Howth, Co. Dublin
Terana caerulea, Cobalt crust, Bilsthorpe, November 2022 At almost the end of a delightful walk spotting fungal treasures in a deciduous wood on a rewilded old train track in Bilsthorpe, rural Nottinghamshire, I spotted some lovely Auricularia auricula-judae (wood ears) on a gnarly, jaggedy, tall stump of a tree. I then looked up and wondered… Continue reading Terana caerulea, Cobalt crust, Nottinghamshire, UK
5th September 2020 I love how diverse the forms of fungi can be, and this is (probably - apart from its very similar brother P. hadriani) the rudest looking fungus in the west, sure to illicit scoffs and giggles when seen. This delightfully protruding formation is the common stinkhorn. It first emerges from the ground… Continue reading Phallus impudicus, Common stinkhorn, Co. Wicklow & Catania
5th September 2020 Sparassis crispa, or cauliflower fungus, to me, is one of the most distinctive and fun looking species I've had the pleasure to stumble upon in person. Emerging from the base of conifers, it is a parasite, causing brown rot and can also be saprobic i.e. living on the dead wood. Various sources… Continue reading Sparassis crispa, Cauliflower fungus, Co. Wicklow
Willow Bank, Barnsley The more I've learned about mushroom and fungi since starting to look deeper into these colourful, ephemeral jewels of the forest, the more I realise how much I don't know and how they can teach us about life in the most unexpected and humbling ways. Amanita muscaria, September, 2013 It's been over… Continue reading Slowing Down
7th September 2021, Hypholoma fasciculare, Sherwood Pines The wonderful Sherwood pines in Nottinghamshire is a brilliant space for cycling, mushroom hunting and also getting lost. I was happy to spot these whilst pootling around on one adventure. Clustered on a little pine stump itself covered with a montage of brambles, nettles and grass, these little… Continue reading Hypholoma fasciculare, Sulphur Tuft, Sherwood Pines, England
9th September 2014 Sometimes, one spends years in the hope of finding a particular species, and many times creeping up to brightly coloured mysteries glinting in the speckled light of the forest only to find that it's litter. And yet, one day, on a walk with some wonderful colleagues, at the serene, Newmillerdam in West… Continue reading Aleuria aurantia, Orange Peel Fungus, Newmillerdam, West Yorkshire, England
Birch Polypores in abundance, Sherwood Forest, Edwinstowe This time last year I was visiting my parents back in the UK, after not seeing them for a year and a half due to the pandemic. How time flies! They are very lucky to live near the beautifully sprawling Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, lots of different areas,… Continue reading Fomitopsis betulina, Birch Polypore, Nottinghamshire, UK
5th September 2018 2018 I had the pleasure of visiting Langley Castle as my friend was having a fairytale wedding there. The morning after we went for a stroll around the grounds and discovered this fine specimen. I casually took this photo to identify later. I wish I had looked up and paid more attention… Continue reading Meripilus giganteus, Giant Polypore, Langley Castle, Northumberland, England
31st July 2022 At the end of July, I had a beautiful stay at a retreat centre in Laragh, near Glendalough taking time away to meditate and look after myself. I took advantage of my beautful surroundings and went for a walk along the Wicklow Way. The area I was walking in was a mixed… Continue reading Suspected Lactifluus piperatus, Peppery milkcap, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Agrocybe rivulosa, 14th August 2018 Once upon a time, 4 years ago, I had the pleasure of working at an organic farm in Kilkenny. It was a very informative experience, and it showed me how much I absolutely loved working with nature and getting my hands dirty. There were many times I spotted fungus popping… Continue reading Agrocybe rivulosa, Wrinked fieldcap, Organic Farm, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
All photographs in this post taken by Katie O'Brien Laetiporus sulphureus, so-called 'chicken of the woods' is an interesting fungus that grows mainly on deciduous trees; including oak, sweet chestnut and beech. It is prized by foragers. A good friend alerted me to a brilliant example on a yew tree, an outlier to the deciduous… Continue reading Laetiporus sulphureus, Chicken of the Woods, Dublin, Ireland
Trametes gibbosa, lumpy bracket, on a sycamore stump, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin A wintry dusk stroll around the historical Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin revealed a colourful array of lichen and some curious brackets and crusts too on the old trees and stumps. This pale, chunky, lumpy specimen, Trametes gibbosa, common English name 'lumpy bracket', was covering… Continue reading Trametes gibbosa, Lumpy Bracket Fungus, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
07/06/2021 Xylaria polymorpha, Dead Man's Fingers Pottering about my little suburban back garden (in Dublin, Republic of Ireland) which is almost entirely paved, aside from two raised beds at either side, my eye caught sight of a grey undulating clump, sticking out between the chickweed and dry soil. I pondered for a moment whether I… Continue reading Xylaria polymorpha, Dead Man’s Fingers, Dublin
Helvella macropus, Lockerbie, Scotland, 21st July 2016 This little tiny gem was found in Eskrigg Nature Reserve in Lockerbie, Dumfries & Galloway, in the South West of Scotland. Eskrigg Nature Reserve, run by Lockerbie Wildlife Trust, is a special little place and an incredible reserve with a mixture of habitats. It is an important sanctuary… Continue reading Helvella macropus, Felt Saddle, Dumfries & Galloway
Xylaria hypoxylon, Rathfriland, Northern Ireland, 2nd December 2017 This little cluster of Xylaria hypoxylon, standing between 4 - 6cm high, nestled between the undergrowth amidst blades of green grass, brown dried grass and creeping buttercups, is one of my favourite finds. Standing proud with it's distinct features, these figures poetically appeared when I was throwing… Continue reading Xylaria hypoxylon, Candlesnuff Fungus, Northern Ireland
Amanita muscaria, Willow Bank, Barnsley, 29th September 2013 Hello and welcome to Mushroomination. Thanks for visiting! In my first post I'd like to share what you can expect from this blog, my motivations and a little about me, the author. After years of growing my passion around mycology, reading books, going on forays, drawing and… Continue reading Welcome
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