Newington Green Fungi and Lichens

Fungi Growing in March

The Woodpile on Newington Green continues to provide a good habitat for fungi - these were photographed in March. Each of the fungi in the foreground has a smooth cap that is lightly striped, a fairly thin, pale stalk or stipe and has closely packed dark brown gills underneath.

It is also possible to see the pale-coloured bracket fungus at the top left corner of the image, that was photographed last Autumn and has survived the snow and ice of winter.

The fungi have not been identified and may be poisonous.

Toadstool

Surprisingly, these brightly coloured toadstools on Newington Green were still alive and in one piece, despite the very crisp snow which had turned to ice around them.

22 December 2009

Bracket Fungi ~ Polypores

These bracket fungi have been found growing on the log pile on Newington Green. It is possible to see the pores on the underside of the tough, rather shelf-like fruiting bodies, from which the spores will be broadcast.

There are 40 different species of Polypores fungi in the UK and these have not been identified as yet.

Plane Tree Twigs with Lichen

These twigs were blown down by strong winds and they show some of the as yet unidentified green lichen, that grows high up in the canopy of the old plane trees on Newington Green.

Just visible on the bottom twig, which was un-noticed when the photo was taken, is an unidentified dark-coloured  ladybird.

14 November 2009

Unidentified Fungi

If there is a mycologist who might be able to help with identifying the various types of fungi that were growing on Newington Green in Autumn 2009, please do get in touch with us as we would be really interested to discover what they all are.

30 October 2009

Lichen on a Plane Tree

If you look carefully at the bark of our lovely old plane trees on Newington Green, you can see interesting and often rather beautiful patterns of greens, greys and soft yellows, made by various lichens and mosses.

2 November 2009

Orange Fungi

These colourful fungi are the fruiting bodies of a large underground organism and they clearly show the elaborate gills on the underside of the head, from which spores are released when ripe enough, in order to the spread fungi further afield.

They may look inviting but these fungi may be poisonous so please leave them alone.

2 November 2009

Fungi

Many fungi look like mushrooms but can give people allergic reactions or poison them. These are some of the many varieties of toadstools that have appeared on Newington Green this autumn. The fruiting bodies that we see are only around for a short time and make an interesting addition to the Green's biodiversity.

These fungi have not been identified so please do not handle them in case they poison you.

Toadstools

The toadstools or fungi that we see, mostly in the autumn, are the fruiting bodies of organisms that live in the earth, some of which may be very large indeed.

The word 'toadstool' does not refer to a cute little seat for a toad, as it may suggest. It is thought that the word 'toadstool' may actually come from German and means 'death's chair' - which certainly makes us aware that many toadstools are very poisonous!

1 November 2009

Fungi

Newington Green has suddenly sprouted a number of beautiful fungi amongst the dead leaves, wood chip paths and around the log pile on the East side of the Green.  Fungi are a true sign of autumn and it is good to see them still growing in this very urban environment.

Unidentified as yet, these fungi may be poisonous, so please do not handle them.

31 October 2009