It was a beautiful day today.
It really was a day for shirtsleeves. It is hard to believe that it is nearly December.
What was really great was that this wonderful weather coincided with National “Take your Idiot to Work” Day.
I picked up the nearest idiot and off we went. We are going fungus shooting.
We are going back up to the Sweet Chestnut coppice because there was so much to see up there. In fact today I shot about six species but I am only going to show you one in this post because I am still working on identifying the others.
Today’s fungi is Sulphur Tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare and it is a pretty one. In fact I think that this one was invented by Walt Disney and appeared in several of his films before escaping from his studios and becoming the familiar woodland mushroom that we know today.
Here are some old photographs. The first from last February and the other two are from some years back.
That growing formation is very typical of this species. It is called Sulphur Tuft because it is sulphur in colour and it grows in tufts. The specimen that I found today was not typical in it’s growth habit, being very spread out but I have had my ID checked by the experts.
Get off the log!
So let us have a closer look at this beautiful fungi.
As always Fizz was a great help to me and I probably couldn’t have got any of these pictures without her 🙂
Look up! That’s November.
I have some other beautiful fungi and some shockingly bad behaviour still to show you but I must work on my ID’s first.
A Tramp in the Woods 
The under side of the fungus is lovely.
I was enchanted with the long, long shadow pic of you, Colin, and little Fizz, seemingly so far away.
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Thank you Ettel 🙂 The shadows were much longer as we made our way home.
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I see she’s holding to her ball quite tightly so it won’t be lost in the moss that’s the same color. (Maybe dogs can’t even see color; she just really likes her ball.) The mossy logs are so pretty. And you make fungus interesting. 🙂
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Thank you Sarasin 🙂
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Small dogs and trees, they are fatally attracted. Our Jack Russell would do the same, we called her the tree climbing dog.
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Thank you Charlotte 🙂 I think that it has to do with a desire to get on the furniture or just to get on anything that’s around.
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lovely clear shots – and never heard of ‘Take your idiot to work day’ but I’m going to keep it from now on 🙂
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Thank you Maureen 🙂 She is just so stupid that she cracks me up. She has walked up and bitten the head off a flower that I was photographing before now. She likes to be the centre of attention 🙂
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I like the moss on the logs.
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Thank you Joy 🙂 So do I, it makes everything seem so damp.
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Your shaggy assistant is hilarious. I love the expression on her face. Such a “helpful” walking companion! Heheh I think I’m a bit in love with fungi really. 🙂
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Thanks Jane 🙂 She is such a great help.
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I like this post very much. It’s informative and the pictures are great.
Yu/stan/kema
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Thank you very much Yu/stan/kema 🙂
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Where did that blue sky come from?! There’s been none of that round here. What on earth were you doing photographing fungi when you could have been playing ball? It is a pretty little toadstool and is just like the ones from ‘Fantasia’, you are right.
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Thank you Clare 🙂 It is madness I know but as the sun comes up this morning I am thinking that today might be a good one to look for Butterflies 🙂
I hope some of this weather drifts your way.
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Thank-you! Dry but cloudy for most of the day here but rain again at 3.30 as it was starting to get dark. Not mad to think of butterflies – did you see any? I have a number of hard-working bumble-bees in my garden visiting the mahonia flowers and a hibernating Red Admiral in the garage.
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Ha! You must be referring to the Chinese mushroom dancers in Fantasia. Great pics, per usual, I esp. like the gill shots, the patterns are beautiful. I just realized that Fizz looks like an Ewok. 🙂 No wonder we love her little cute face!
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Thank you Eliza 🙂 I will try telling her that she may be an Ewok 🙂
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the ball, the log, the cosmic mushrooms. What beautiful images. Fizz it seems has you wrapped around her tail (I guess it would be)! :- )
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Thank you Steven 🙂
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Another beautiful post. I don’t know any dogs who get as muddy as Fizz. None:) Sometimes it’s so cold that Vicious Beast just stand outside and my daughter has to go and get her, because she’s shivering and can’t walk. She gets grubby sometimes but noting like Fizz. 🙂 Today VB was in her coat all day, inside and out. She likes it. She’s a grandma dog now and she had nine screws in her hip, from when she jumped out of the van window when a plastic bag scared her. So we baby her a bit…well a lot actually. 🙂 Fizz is an outdoor dog for sure. The underside of the mushroom is beautiful:)
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Thank you Gigi 🙂 Very interesting to learn so much about Vicious Beast, she is a lovely dog.
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Colin, a serious question…. are there fungi that are poisonous if you touch them and then later (inadvertently) bring fingers into contact with mouth? So rather than ingesting the fungus, cooked or raw, you simply give it a second hand lick? If so, considering some fungi are as I understand it not easily identifiable as toxic, how do you know which are safe to handle and which do you leave to Fizz?
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Thanks Andrew 🙂 I can only speak for the UK where it is safe to handle fungi sensibly. Our most poisonous mushroom is the Death Cap and they say that half a cap (about 1 oz) is enough to kill a man but I really don’t think that a trace on your fingers could do any harm. Death Caps are quite rare. I recently found what I thought could be a Destroying Angel (about as mean as a Death Cap). I couldn’t get a positive ID on it which is a shame. I did treat it very carefully. The fungi that I handle the most is probably Fly Agaric, it is not lethal and I have never had any kind of reaction from handling it. Plants are worse, a few of the ones that I like to play with contain sap that causes burning and blistering. I wash my hands a lot when I am out, in puddles and wet grass. Have you noticed how Fizz looks a bit like a walking hand towel. She has lovely deep pile fur.
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A multi-purpose dog is a boon, Colin. Companion, hand towel, loofah (?), boot cleaner……. I can see she is a very valuable dog. She may well do at Crusts, too. (That is the rival show to Crufts). There are some larvae that have very nasty scilia if you handle them. I believe one in Brazil can be fatal. Best not to let Fizz eat caterpillars.
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Boot cleaner! Andrew that’s hilarious. 🙂
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I love your fungi series, it’s fascinating !
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You have given me some more critters to work with. As always, Fizz stole the spotlight! Happy Trails!
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I love the giant tree at the beginning, and your dog is so cute! 🙂
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Fizz is the perfect accompaniment to your amazing photography. She’s got us all wrapped around her tail! Wuff! Flowers are edible dad… chomp. That’s something my pack would do. All barking aside, your photography and descriptions are inspiring. Thank you for sharing with us.
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Another excellent little fungus and well-presented by your assistant who is very good at illustrating the sizes of your various specimens. The one picture of the fungus that was smaller than Fizz’s foot convinced me that the fungus was tiny indeed. See you next time.
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Simply fabulous shots of Fizz and fungus!
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Colin, you put the FUN in Fungi! Your wit and wonder with Fizz and Fungus is quite compounding and “logarithmic”.
Tender undersides and sporadic sex lives along with that filthy dog 😉 all charm us with such scandalous characteristics!
Sorry, I’m under their captivating spell, uncontrollably rhyming from the stories you tell!
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