Non latin reader!

[Kleftiwallah]

Don't s'pose the fungi experts on here would consider including the 'common name' for these fungi when they answer, 'cos my lad's family have just moved to a house beside Chepstow plantation/forest/woods and I'm sure I'll be on here soon begging for a name of a fungi? Had to google to find "Shaggy Parasol and Hen of the Woods"!

Cheers, Tony.

[waxcap]

si tempus suppetat - If time allows

Of course there isn't always a common name and sometimes there is more than one but it's a good point.

Dave

[Chris Yeates]

I'm afraid if it's me answering you might only get the scientific name. Because I look at all groups of fungi I have to remember hundreds if not thousands of names and learning the made-up English ones would maker the task even harder.
I just checked, from a standing start it took me 11 seconds to google the vernacular name of 'hen of the woods' - hardly a chore surely. If someone is going to the time and bother of answering an enquiry, perhaps it is only gracious to accept it however that response is phrased?
We do have quite a number of non-Brits visiting WAB (including some experts) so out of courtesy to them I think that it's no bad thing to use what are after all the internationally accepted names (of all fungi - not just a selection of the larger ones).
Just sayin'
Chris

[timps]

Hi Tony,

Surely you'd be apt to Google the species suggested in either case?

Timps

[adampembs]

I tend to use the common names for the really common species, eg Sulphur Tuft, which is so much easier to type than Hypholoma fasciculare.

(by the way, I'm seeing masses and masses of Sulphur Tuft this year, maybe it's all the wood from the january storms)

One good reason to use the scientific name is that species are grouped in a genus. So you might see a mushroom in a field, but you can't assume it's Field Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) as there are some lookalikes. So, someone will just say Agaricus species (sp) unless you can provide more info, like yellowing etc.