WORKSHOP INFO – Britain’s Rarest Fungus?
Venue A secret location in Surrey - Date October 7 2010 - Duration 10am-4pm
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Aseroe rubra – The Starfish Fungus |
Everything comes to those who wait so they say and that’s very true with the previous picture. I first heard about this rare fungus back in November 2003, (yes that is a long time ago!), it had been found the previous month, but for one reason or another it had eluded me. To the best of my knowledge it only occurs at one location in the UK and is possibly Britain’s rarest fungi. Nobody knows how it got here as it is a native of Australia and New Zealand as well as locations around the Pacific Rim such as Hawaii.
Last year, on my way to give a talk to Basingstoke CC, I made time to stop off at the site where it had been first recorded. My original source had given me a map, now 6 years old, and to my amazement after probably an hour’s search I found 3 eggs. These I photographed and then returned again 4 days later with fingers crossed, in the hope that they had opened up. As you can see, they had, with one specimen in virtually mint condition.
It begins as a partly buried whitish egg-shaped structure 3 cm in diameter, which bursts open as a hollow white stalk with reddish arms erupts and grows to a height of 10 cm. It matures into a reddish star-shaped structure with six to ten arms up to 3.5 cm long radiating from the central area. These arms are bifid (divided into two limbs). The top of the fungus is covered with dark olive-brown slime or gleba which smells of rotting meat. There is a cup-shaped volva at the base is the remnants of the original egg.
From its natural habitat it appears to have travelled to other parts of the world in garden or soil products; it was recorded growing on soil transported from Australia in a glasshouse in Kew gardens in 1829. It is commonly referred to as the starfish fungus but to me it looks more like a sea anemone. Needless to say, for the dedicated fungi enthusiasts this is a rare opportunity, literally, and as such a workshop not to be missed.
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Sparrasis crispa– The Cauliflower Fungus |
The venue itself has plenty of other fungi such as the one to the right that I also photographed there last year, Sparrasis crispa, the beautiful Cauliflower Fungus which unfortunately is not only photogenic but also good to eat. As such it is in demand by top London restaurants who will pay good money to the mushroom collectors for them. I once had a Chinese meal in Turkey and discovered during the course of the meal that I was unknowingly eating Sparrasis crispa and I have to say it was excellent.
One of the problems associated with eating it is that it is very difficult to clean and you invariably find many slugs and insects hidden away in its folds. This reminds me of a story that appeared in The Daily Mail several years ago about a woman that took her Cauliflower fungus back to Harrods in London and demanded her money back as she had discovered a caterpillar in it. Of course, being Harrods, they did not argue and gave her it back with, I assume, profuse apologies.
So, what is so interesting about that you might ask? Well nothing except what she got back was what she had paid for it – an incredible £45.00. That gives you some idea why there are increasing numbers of mushroom collectors these days. You will be pleased to know that I resisted temptation and left this one for the next photographer or maybe a collector.
Workshop cost
The cost of this workshop is £80 and numbers are restricted so if you are interested you really need to let me know by return. Email me in the first instance and I will confirm your booking/s and send you the appropriate info.
