A walk on the wild-side and Amanita muscaria.

• 5 Oct, 2012
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The groves of mixed tree species planted around the sides of Derry Bowling Club greens are always particularly rich in fungi of many species including the dangerously poisonous Amanita pantherina, perhaps as a result of many years of deposits of dog-poo enriching the ground with Phosphorus and other nutrients. This is the first time that I have ever seen this species here and in some abundance. These are/were growing around the base of a Silver Birch Tree which is reported to be often the case. Most of the caps had been partially eaten by slugs, (or do we have some drug-addicted badgers visiting the place?) so were not very photogenic. These two much smaller ones were the best that I could find.