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| *****SWAAG_ID***** | 904 |
| Date Entered | 11/11/2015 |
| Updated on | 11/11/2015 |
| Recorded by | Tim Laurie |
| Category | Fungus / Mould |
| Record Type | Botanical HER |
| SWAAG Site Name | |
| Site Type | |
| Site Name | |
| Site Description | |
| Site Access | Public Footpath |
| Record Date | 10/10/2015 |
| Location | Arkle Beck Pastures |
| Civil Parish | Reeth |
| Brit. National Grid | NZ 033 006 |
| Altitude | 240m |
| Geology | River Terraces and solifluction deposits on northern side of Arkle Beck |
| Record Name | Wax Caps in the old pastures above Arkle Beck and the disappearance of wild mushrooms. |
| Record Description | Wax caps are the brightly coloured fungi which can be seen growing wherever old pastures have not been treated with nitrogen based fertiliser. There are a fair number of different species to be found, some common, some not so common. All are interesting and well worth searching out the best examples for a photograph at this time of year.
See: http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/~hygrophoraceae.php
Photograph, admire but do not eat these bright fungi.
Note!
Final identification of these fungi is a specialist field. My identifications are therefor provisional and revisions are invited! |
| Dimensions | See photos |
| Geographical area | |
| Species | |
| Scientific Name | |
| Common / Notable Species | |
| Tree and / or Stem Girth | |
| Tree: Position / Form / Status | |
| Tree Site ID | 0 |
| Associated Site SWAAG ID | 0 |
| Additional Notes | Whereas inedible bright Waxcaps are relatively common in the Dales (uncommon eldewhere), edible Field Mushrooms and Horse Mushrooms, which were once a treat to be found in the same pastures, have now completely disappeared. I have not seen a single wild edible mushroom in all the upland pastures where these were once common, both on limestone grasslands of the high fell sides and also on in the few remaining small and relatively inaccessible old pastures which were not considered worth the cost of fertiliser. However, in my experience wild mushrooms have during the last few years disappeared, even during the humid damp days of autumn, completely. Very occasional isolated mushrooms may survive somewhere. I understand that the cause of the disappearance of wild mushrooms has been the chemical and residual pharmaceutical content of sheep and cattle urine.
I hope that I am mistaken and look forward to contradiction and to being informed that the once awaited mushroom bonanza still exists somewhere.
Photographs of the underside of the waxcaps are useful in identification and can be taken with the camera on the ground close to, at ground level. |
| Image 1 ID | 6544 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 1 Description | Old pastures, Arkle Beck North Bank. |  |
| Image 2 ID | 6545 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 2 Description | Scarlet Waxcap, or possibly the uncommon Crimson Waxcap |  |
| Image 3 ID | 6546 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 3 Description | Scarlet Waxcap |  |
| Image 4 ID | 6547 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 4 Description | Scarlet Waxcap |  |
| Image 5 ID | 6548 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 5 Description | Meadow Waxcap |  |
| Image 6 ID | 6549 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 6 Description | Meadow Waxcap |  |
| Image 7 ID | 6550 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 7 Description | Meadow Waxcap |  |
| Image 8 ID | 6551 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 8 Description | Butter Waxcap |  |
| Image 9 ID | 6552 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 9 Description | Butter Waxcaps |  |
| Image 10 ID | 6553 Click image to enlarge |
| Image 10 Description | Snowy Waxcap with Scarlet Waxcaps |  |
| Image 11 ID | 6554 |
| Image 11 Description | Meadow and Scarlet Waxcaps |  |
| Image 12 ID | 6555 |
| Image 12 Description | Scarlet Waxcaps |  |
