A FEAST OF FUNGI
As the annual Autumn mushroom bonanza kicks into gear, we glance into the infinitely complex world of trees and toadstools
Britain revels in one of the world’s richest arrays of mushrooms and toadstools. These underpin life in our woods, but as Ray Woods reveals, few of suspect the true complexity of the relationships that lurk beneath bark, mould and soil.
Mention mushrooms and most people think automatically of dew-soaked turf, the scent of the first frost and an explosion of garish colours and strange shapes across the forest floor. It seems mushrooms and toadstools are synonymous with autumn in the public eye, but this is only the start of our poverty of understanding when it comes to our 10,000-odd species of fungi.
The reality is, of course, far more varied and interesting. To begin with, most fungi are present around the year, their delicate root-like mycelia lurking invisible beneath bark, soil and leaf mould. We generally only become aware of their presence when the fruiting body we know as a mushroom bursts forth to shed its spores. For our trees and woodlands they are far more significant, however, and we are barely beginning to grasp the complexity of the inter-relationships between these primitive, often microscopic, life forms and the world’s largest living organisms. To put this in context, over 60 different fungi may be associated with a single tree, each performing a different task. On top of this, veterans may boast well over 100 species of the closely-allied lichens.
Some are certainly harmful parasites, feasting for free on their hosts while slowly killing them. The vast majority, however, perform useful roles, breaking down dead wood, fallen leaves and countless animals to release nutrients for the trees. Indeed, it is probably no exaggeration to say that our forests could not exist without fungi.