A forum for *ALL* people interested in fungi who foray in the London area. Professional or amateur, mad-keen microscope-wielder or once-a-year "can I eat it?" wanderer, everybody is welcome to share discoveries, ask questions, publicise forays and courses, or just make contact with like-minded enthusiasts.

"In his article [Dec. 1881] Phillips wrote 'The study of fungi is admitted on all hands to be one of considerable difficulty, especially when pursued by anyone alone and unaided'. Nothing has changed since. We won't get far in the recording of Britain's mycological biodiversity if we all try to go it alone." Alick Henrici, Notes and Records, Field Mycology vol.6(3) July 2005 p.101

Thanks to Gina for the photo, taken in Abney Park Cemetery in March. It's an inkcap, isn't it? And it looks very like one of the commonest of inkcaps in this country - Coprinellus micaceus, Glistening Inkcap. But is it?

Well ... maybe, and maybe not. There are other inkcaps which look similar macroscopically to this species but which differ in microscopic detail, eg. spore shape, and presence or absence of tiny cells (cystidia) projecting from the surface of the fruitbody. Coprinellus truncorum and C.saccharinus are two of these. And this clump of early springers has been provisionally identified as possible C.saccharinus.

But what is C.saccharinus? Is it biologically different from what we call C.micaceus? And, if so, how is it different? Who knows? How can we find out? Perhaps C.micaceus and all its sister taxa are just one, big, variable species - just like Homo sapiens.

I know I'm getting in to deep waters here, but Geoffrey Kibby has reported on this forum that recent DNA studies demonstrate that Boletus edulis, Cep, is one species, worldwide, in all its various sizes, shapes, and colour forms. Sometimes the DNA gives new species, sometimes it takes them away. Fascinating.

"Neither a lumper, nor a splitter be - Do the DNA and then we'll see."

Maybe ...