Field Mushrooms already?

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gregorach

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 15, 2005
3,723
28
50
Edinburgh
Yet more on the mushroom wierdness front... I've been noticing field mushrooms popping up around here in the last few days. I'm pretty darn sure I've never seen any this early before.

Anybody else? Or am I getting my mushroom seasonalities wrong?
 

andyn

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 15, 2005
2,392
29
Hampshire
www.naturescraft.co.uk
Have only seen a few fungi coming up so far. But saw an ink cap at the weekend and was thinking it was a little early.

Growth of everything this year so far seems to have shifted about 2 months early. :s
 

xylaria

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
The earliest you can get field mushrooms, is june. So it is not too much out of season but I have never found them quite this early. But i have found quite a few very recently that should be out july/august, so i do feel the season is a bit out. April was hot and dry and may was really wet so that weather was the wrong way around for those two months, so it is not surprising that things are a bit out. Mushrooms need high temperatures to heat the ground followed by rain which why there so many in september which may also explain why you are seeing a large crop of them now.

I stopped using season as a reliable for IDing fungi last year when I ate a giant puffball in november, when they are normally seen around now. Most of species i have seen this year have been 2-3 months early.
 

rg1984

Member
Feb 24, 2007
26
0
40
Lockerbie
Have only seen a few fungi coming up so far. But saw an ink cap at the weekend and was thinking it was a little early.

Growth of everything this year so far seems to have shifted about 2 months early. :s

I seen ink caps about a month and a half ago and I'm in fife. Also seen chanterelles growing under a beech, at work I've seen tonnes of st georges, and quite a few strange out of season mushrooms.Not so many new brackets this year I thought though. Definately agree things are early this year but not so much up here. I thought maybe a month or so however some things such as the pignut etc seem to be bang on time here. We seemed to have had a good fungi season in the autumn here and I've got to say I've seen tonnes of different species so far this spring/early summer.
 

Hunter_zero

Nomad
Jun 25, 2006
430
6
51
Wales
Yet more on the mushroom wierdness front... I've been noticing field mushrooms popping up around here in the last few days. I'm pretty darn sure I've never seen any this early before.

Anybody else? Or am I getting my mushroom seasonalities wrong?

Yes, I picked some big ones hidden between two hay bails.

It is very early.

John
 

Tantalus

Full Member
May 10, 2004
1,043
128
60
Galashiels
They are governed as much by moisture and temperature rather than the calendar.

Midsummer generally too hot for them so get them now if they are going.

Wetter autumn usually brings them to fruit (the mushroom IS the fruit), but i guess after a mild winter and a lovely spring they have had a good chance to gather the energy to build fruit .

Hopefully if summer isnt too dry (and kills them off a bit again) autumn will be spectacular :D

Tant
 

xylaria

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Some great Oyster mushrooms here at the moment.
Do I have to worry about Rs in the month with these?......
John

Now that is early!!!

There is a limited amount of gilled fungi that grow to the same shape as oysters. Most of its look-a-likes are species it is related to and are edible. There is some smaller ones that are that shape that produce a brown spore print when layed gill side down on paper, that are called crepidotus. There is also a very rare paxillus that grows on the side on trees which again has brown spores. So generally if it is bigger than your hand and the spores are white it is oyster or a close relative.
 

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