Where have all the fungi gone?

[Jacky]

I moved to Plymouth from Hampshire right at the end of the fungi season last year but in the time I've been here I've seen some fab places that would make excellent habitats for fungi - but there's very little about - just a few amethyst deceivers and one puffball worth collecting so far (to also leave some behind).

Is anyone else finding the same? I mean, last year in Hampshire I checked out the same type of habitats and found loads, this year I've only seen a few slug bitten boletes, a couple of overblown puffballs, but loads of earthballs. I've even checked out locations that I found on a fungi website down here but... nothing!

Or if you know Plymouth and the surrounding areas - please tell me where to go to find something worthwhile, although preferably in a private message so everyone else doesn't get there first!

[Paul mabbott]

Up here there are vast numbers of toadstools about - I can't even try to identify them because they have been largely eaten by the armies of slugs rolling around!

[Acutipuerilis]

Not sure about Hampshire, but in north Surrey our local park is pretty strange. This is the third year I've been hunting, and although I've been pretty diligent, I can only vouch for 60 or so different species, many of them small things or bracketty stuff. The only decent edibles are very sparse Lepista nuda (two specimens over three years, in different places!), a delicious clump of Lepista saeva, Coprinus comatus popping up in small numbers all over the place, very rare Agaricus campestris, some Auricularia auricula-judae, and a nice patch of Leucoagaricus leucothites. Enough for a good dinner, but you hardly ever find more than one or two at a time...

Despite some woodlands and meadows, I've not seen any Amanita, Russula, Hygrocybe or boletes. There are, however, at least eight species of Coprinus. I'm sure this says something interesting, but no idea what. Are there any decent studies of fungus faunas, with certain soil types being good for certain genera?

[Deer Hunter]

Fernworthy Forest is worth a visit. I always find this an excellent area