Sarah West

I've really got interested in fungi identification this year, inspired by a trip to the Cairngorms where the birch woods were full of boletus species. Boletus don't have gills like the mushrooms you buy in the shops, instead they have pores, which look like an array of tiny little tubes stacked together. Here's some photos taken by my friend Ellie at Skipwith Common near York who is also just getting into fungi ID: This specimen was the largest we'd ever seen and was more than a bit past it!

The glasses case gives you some idea of size!

The foray was part of a fungi identification course I organised, and it was run by a tutor from the Mid Yorkshire Fungus Group - it's a bit late in the year for looking for fungi now, but if you live in the area, go along to one of their public forays next year, they are always happy to see new faces!

For armchair fungi enthusiasts I highly recommend Roger Phillips 2006 "Mushrooms" book published by Macmillan Reference, which is a great reference book with wonderful photos and helpful descriptions. Unfortunately it's a bit too big to take out in the field. He has also done an online guide, which is free to access and can be found at www.rogersmushrooms.com

And whilst it's not peak fungi season, bracket fungi are about all year round, so why not head down to your nearest wood and see what you can find?