Isn't it a bit late in the season for this?

[ohgreatstew]

This is really just a general question about the seasons of mushroom hunting, I am new to this but have already found a huge variety of fungi, and I am still finding them, in the books and inforamation I have read so far they really only talk about Spring and Summer/Autum for finding fungi, I know there are a few varieties which occur in winter but generally speaking it seems all over by now....
So it also most seems strange that we are nearly into December but I am still finding feild mushrooms, the feild behind where I live is still scattered with Butter caps and Parrot caps, and every day when I walk in the woods there are new fungi heads poping up everywhere....... only yesterday I found Blushers, Sulpher knights, Wood Blewits & inky cap ,mushrooms! Is this normal or a result of climate change?
And if it is normal why do all the forays stop at the end of October.

(Sorry about use of common names, I am still getting to grips with the Latin)

[Michael Jordan]

Twenty years ago, or thereabouts, the answer would have been, yes. I can remember regularly that it was bitterly cold with night frosts occurring by bonfire night. Fungi fruiting is discouraged largely by frost and dry conditions and we have seen neither to any measurable extent, certainly in the south of England. To a lesser extent ground inhabiting fungi can be smothered by autumn leaf fall, though this does not discourage the larger more robust species. Records coming in to the office here this week have included a range of Agaricus (mushroom) species, as well as large boletes, that one would normally expect to dominate earlier in the season.

Current data is not just the common-or-garden stuff. We've been seeing records of comparatively infrequent species going onto CATE throughout November. On the last of our local Three Counties (Devon) forays last weekend we recorded in excess of 70 species and a few years ago this number would have been fairly surprising.

What has happened in the south of the country in the last 2 years has involved a flush of fruiting in June/July, a comparative dearth in dry 'Indian Summer' August/September weeks, and a renewal of fruiting in October/November. This will probably continue until we do, in fact, see some serious night frosts.

Michael Jordan

[jonbem]

I spotted some Shaggy Ink Caps (Coprinas comatus) on a roundabout in Northallerton just yesterday. Bit tricky to stop the car to get at them though!

Jon

[Keith Talbot]

Theres plenty still about in the New Forest

Last weeks trip saw 20+ types in a couple of hours walking,quite literally tripping over them at the mo

Keith

[Jason Claxton]

Yes lots still near me in Southampton,I've just got to work out what they all are,I think many took a battering from the very heavy showers of late here.

[thebeard]

i found that the start of autumn was pretty slow to be honest. it wasn't until around the end of october/start of november that i started finding a lot. there's been drips and drops, but at the moment, the fungi seem to be everywhere!

[ohgreatstew]

Originally Posted by Michael Jordan

We've been seeing records of comparatively infrequent species going onto CATE throughout November.
Michael Jordan

Micheal, Excuse my ignorance but being new to this I am not familure with some of the terms and acronym's, what does CATE stand for?

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by thebeard

i found that the start of autumn was pretty slow to be honest. it wasn't until around the end of october/start of november that i started finding a lot. there's been drips and drops, but at the moment, the fungi seem to be everywhere!

Ditto for me ... Grassland waxcaps were just coming through in late October on my usual site after a small flush in August. September was the quietest month of the whole year. Visited it this Monday and it is now producing plenty. Last winter I was still finding a few Waxcaps well into January.

[cybershot]

Originally Posted by ohgreatstew

Micheal, Excuse my ignorance but being new to this I am not familure with some of the terms and acronym's, what does CATE stand for?

CATE is the relatively new, but highly sophistiCATEd national database for fungal records initiated and developed by the Association of British Fungus Groups (ABFG):

Association of British Fungus Groups - CATE Database » Species Search

David

[ohgreatstew]

Originally Posted by cybershot

CATE is the relatively new, but highly sophistiCATEd national database for fungal records initiated and developed by the Association of British Fungus Groups (ABFG):

Association of British Fungus Groups - CATE Database » Species Search

David

Great, thanks David.