Wear gloves when handling unknown mushrooms, or make sure to wash hands afterwards.Ĭut the stipe (stem) off as close to the base of the cap as possible. Young specimens of honey fungus look like button mushrooms, then uncurl as they age before turning dark and slimy once they are past their peak. Young mushrooms may be too immature to drop their spores, whereas old mushrooms may have already released all their spores. The stipe is often hollow in the middle.Ĭhoose the freshest mushroom you can. The colour and patterning of the stipe vary, ranging from pale/pinkish/dark brown in colour, and smooth/stripy/scaled in pattern. In most honey fungus mushrooms the stipe is the same width along its length ( Armillaria gallica can have a bulbous base). The species of honey fungus that occur in gardens all have annuli close to where the cap begins, but these can be difficult to spot and may only be present as wispy veils of tissue. Honey fungus mushrooms produce pale (white/cream) spores.Īnnulus – A ring of tissue around the stalk (stipe). The colour of the spores may be hard to tell while still inside the mushroom cap, but by making a spore print (see below) you can observe the colour more easily. Spores – Spores develop and are released from between the gills. Some but not all of the gills will run all the way from the cap edge to connect to the central stalk (stipe). Gills – Membranes running radially across the underside of the cap are the gills. White sheets of fungal mycelium grow under the bark of roots and stem-bases, plus black rhizomorphs (aka bootlaces) grow on root surfaces, under the bark, and in the soil.Ĭap – Honey-beige-brown in colour, usually smooth in texture on the upper surface but can be somewhat fluffy. There are other features of honey fungus infection that you can check all year round. The genetic variability found between samples of the fungus taken from different areas of the garden at RHS Wisley indicates that many of the initial infections arose from spores (although once established in a particular area the fungus will still then spread between adjacent plants via rhizomorphs or root-to-root contact). Honey fungus mushrooms only appear in the autumn and do not appear every year, but when they do occur it could be a sign that the plant is dying or already dead. Early indications from ongoing RHS research suggest that spores from the mushrooms of Armillaria mellea, the aggressive honey fungus species found most commonly in gardens, are more important in spreading the fungus than previously thought. If you suspect a mushroom is honey fungus, inspecting its features and making a spore print will help you distinguish it from the many other orange-brown mushrooms that may grow in the garden but are harmless to living plants. These carry spores (the fungal equivalent of seeds). Mushrooms/toadstools are their fruiting bodies. Malvern Autumn Show - 27-29 September 2024įungi have multiple structures.RHS Flower Show Tatton Park - 17-21 July 2024. RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival - 2–7 July 2024.RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show - 14 June – 7 July 2024.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |