fly agaric- north or south

[kiltoncomp]

there have been a few posts lately regarding fly agaric,with some people having never found one, or at the best, just the odd one,

is there a north/south divide with this species?, with the majority of finds being in the northern half of the country??

its a species that i take for granted as being inevitable,as on most forays i can usually spot 20 or 30 and sometimes a lot more,
even today on a short walk in Clumber (half an hour) there were more than a dozen nice fresh ones in evidence,
about the only other more numerous fungi are Scleroderma sp and Fomes fomentarius,(and this year, Russula ochroleuca)
it is one of the few species i thought was common throughout the country, but obviously not!

Brian.

[KeenTeen17]

I think last year and this year have been bad for fly agarics because I went looking last year in all the places I went and only found one that had all its spots washed off.


This year I found some good samples in August but I haven't seen any in the places where they should be in profusion eg. mossy birch woodlands near me.

They are in my local park though but they are always destroyed by slugs before they properly mature.

[NickCantle]

Well I think you can safely quash any thoughts of a North/South divide on distribution of this species.

I have seen many here in the East of England and I have seen many down south.

If you set out to find A. muscaria and you were serious about finding one, you could find one easily if you visited a specific habitat. Birch and Pine woods with sandy soil, the right time of year = A. muscaria without fail

[cybershot]

In 2006 I would have agreed with every word Nick but in the last two years that theory, with regard to my neck of the woods, has gone t**s up. I've only found 3 this year compared with 33 in one outing in known favorable environments previously

David

[NickCantle]

Well on those words, perhaps a seasonal divide between North and South due to the quite evident climate difference. In a good year, these things are absolutely everywhere as we know from 2006

[JLSeagull]

Originally Posted by kiltoncomp

is there a north/south divide with this species?, with the majority of finds being in the northern half of the country??

I live in the south and have seen plenty of fly agaric down here.

[kiltoncomp]

Originally Posted by JLSeagull

I live in the south and have seen plenty of fly agaric down here.

seems that they are spread pretty evenly about the country then,
it just seemed strange to me that some people have not found one, its not that you can miss one with that bright red colour

perhaps people are looking in the wrong places for them??,
having said that i find them in just about every location, and not just with birch on sandy soil,(not found any in boggy places though)

[demicav]

There were some Fly agaric growing just outside my children's school the other week.