(Excerpt) Glistening Inkcaps (Coprinellus micaceus) are one of the most common and easily recognised Inkcap mushrooms in the British Isles and are widespread and frequently encountered wherever suitable dead wood is present.
Tag Archives: #Yorkshire
Violet Coral Fungus
(Excerpt) C. zollingeri is a characteristic member of the CHEGD fungal assemblage (Clavariaceae, Hygrocybes, Entolomataceae, Geoglossacaea and Dermoloma). These taxa are restricted to nutrient-poor, often mildly acidic grasslands that have remained largely unimproved for decades or sometimes centuries.
Nightshades of Northern England
The Nightshade family (Solanaceae) includes the familiar food plants potato, tomato and aubergine, yet several of its members are toxic.
Three of these poisonous species are common in Northern England:
Woody Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum).
The three species differ markedly in appearance, toxicity, and habitats, here we look at these differences, how to identify them, and the roles the plants have played in our culture and history.
Hen Harriers, Fates and Fortunes, Part Two
In Part One of this continuing series we left the Hen Harrier in the recent past, with the mixed fortunes of 2022 to 2024: record fledging years giving way to weather-hit productivity, satellite tags failing silent, and the brood-management trial paused for review.
Autumn Days when the Grass is Jewelled
(Excerpt) Autumn brings with it many sensory delights; sounds, tastes and sights unique to the season, yet it does not arrive with a single scent but instead with a layered, shifting perfume that settles into the hedgerows, woodlands, and wet country lanes.
The Common Darter
In the serotinal days of late summer, when the countryside’s tones shift from emerald to gold, our insect life slowly fades from the scene and the buzz and hum of bees and flies dials back to the silence of winter.
Yet life still lingers, and some flying insects remain to stir the cooling autumnal air, including the striking and swift-flying Sympetrum striolatum, the Common Darter dragonfly.
Ovinophobia, the Rise of the Anti-Sheep Movement
(Excerpt) In the early 2010s, a series of sharp critiques of British upland sheep farming emerged from environmental circles and gradually hardened into a sustained campaign. What began as polemical writing about ecological damage evolved into calls for the removal of sheep from the hills. This was framed as essential for nature recovery, flood prevention and rewilding, among other things.
Laccaria amethystina, Deceptive Jewel of the Autumn Woods
(Excerpt) Laccaria amethystina is ectomycorrhizal, forming symbiotic relationships with the roots of trees. It is most often found with beech, oak and birch, though it also occurs under conifers, and grows in leaf litter and moss in both deciduous and mixed woodland, frequently in scattered groups or small troops.
