Fungi and slime moulds have fascinated me since I was young — thanks in part to the frequent walks at Strumpshaw Fen with my family.
I started attending the Norfolk Fungus Study Group fungi forays in the late summer of 2022, and to improve my identification skills, I decided to conduct my own fungi survey at Strumpshaw Fen that autumn.
To further my knowledge, I am undertaking another fungi survey at Strumpshaw Fen; this time over six months starting in August 2023.
Many of my identifications will be either uncertain or wrong — you should not use the information on this website as guidance for the edibility of any fungus.
You can use the feedback form below to contact me — or alternatively you can use the feedback form below each species entry for specific feedback.
Survey Criteria
Recording and photographing every single fungus I see would be too time-consuming, so my criteria is:
- I take no samples nor do any microscopy to aid my identification, so I can’t be extremely species-specific. Therefore some of my identification has been general ( e.g. Chlorociboria aeruginascens vs Chlorociboria aeruginosa )
- If I see a species that I have already recorded on a previous visit, I will mention it but not necessarily provide a photo or write any written notes unless it was of specific interest ( i.e. an interesting form or especially good example of the fungus ) or I was still trying to identify it at the time.
- I ignore any species I am not interested in unless there are few fungi to be found that day. Most of the fungi I ignore I classify as Little Brown Mushrooms, many of which I wouldn’t be able to identify anyway without a microscope.
All the scientific names have been checked on Fungal Names at time of writing.
Locations
Some of the main locations I have designated as “zones” to aid locating where I found specific species.
The Locations page and a map of the survey area is still in production.
For fungi found that are rare and/or highly prized, I have placed them in the “everywhere” section to protect them.
You can find every record I’ve made by species in the Index of Species page ( currently under construction ).
Acknowledgements
RSPB Strumpshaw Fen for allowing me undertake the survey.
Paul McAlenan – for photography and the custom website.
Norfolk Fungi Study Group – for helping me with my identifications and general guidance
Websites and books I regularly refer to are:
Fungi of Temperate Europe Volumes I & II by Thomas Læssøe and Jens H. Petersen
The colours in my descriptions are generally taken from The Danish Mycological Society’s Colour-chart.