Magical and mistrusted. Toadstools and mushrooms are associated with ancient taboos, dung, death and decomposition. But trees rely on fungi and we're just starting to understand how close this relationship is: great networks that link and support trees and woodland life. They come in dazzling shapes, colours and sizes; even working with other species to produce different organisms.
Trees woods and wildlife
Looking like little barnacles growing on tree trunks, get to know barnacle lichen which you'll find on the bark of living trees in ancient wood.
Trees woods and wildlife
Dripping off the trees in clean-air woodlands, these beautiful bushy beard lichens adorn branches and trunks.
Trees woods and wildlife
Tufty and beard-like, this rare and legally protected fungus has a reputation for easing dementia.
Trees woods and wildlife
Toxic, brittle, red-capped. Beechwood sickener is only found in beech woodland and help beech trees take up nutrients from the soil.
Trees woods and wildlife
Sticky and gruesome, beefsteak is a woodland fungus with the disconcerting appearance of a raw cut of meat.
Trees woods and wildlife
The brown roll-rim might look innocent enough, but it’s a deadly fungus of birch woodland.
Trees woods and wildlife
Pallid, petite, a tumour-fighter. Candlesnuff fungi may be small but they are a medical force to be reckoned with.
Trees woods and wildlife
Prized ingredient. Forager’s favourite. Succulent and delicate in flavour, chanterelle is used by chefs the world over.
Trees woods and wildlife
Crumbly, tasty and ruddy, the charcoal burner is a favourite with chefs.
Trees woods and wildlife
Bright, bold and soft to the touch, chicken of the woods is easy to spot.
Trees woods and wildlife
The star of the show in broadleaf woodland, this charming fungus would look at home at the bottom of the sea..
Trees woods and wildlife
Clinging to twigs and branches like tiny birds’ nests, each common bird’s nest fungus looks like a clutch of white eggs.
Trees woods and wildlife
Warty, poisonous, explosive. Common earthball might look like a potato, but it is not for eating.
Trees woods and wildlife
Sticky and useful, inkcaps were used as a source of ink for important documents to guard against forgeries.
Trees woods and wildlife
Swollen, blackened ‘fingers’ reaching for the sky. Aptly named, dead man’s fingers can be a spooky-looking find.
Trees woods and wildlife
Silent assassin and killer of kings. The deathcap has been used as a murder weapon for millennia.
Trees woods and wildlife
Famous, enchanting and highly toxic. Fly agaric is the home of fairies and magical creatures and a lover of birch woodland.
Trees woods and wildlife
An Atlantic rainforest specialist and a clue that points to a wood's ancient origins. It makes its home almost exclusively on old hazel trees and is a sure sign of clean air.
Trees woods and wildlife
Velvety and a little disconcerting, the jelly ear looks just like an ear growing off decaying branches.
Trees woods and wildlife
Tiny fire-lighters with an embarrassing story, King Alfred’s cakes are named after the king’s poor baking skills.
Trees woods and wildlife
Once common and widespread, they're now pushed to the westernmost extremities of the UK due to air pollution.
Trees woods and wildlife
Highly prized and easily recognised, the morel is a favourite edible mushroom. It has a strong, nutty flavour and a pleasant, earthy smell and grows in a variety of habitats, including well-drained woodland. But beware, it is poisonous when raw.
Trees woods and wildlife
Though it oozes a honey-like liquid, the oak bracket has a few less tantalising names. It lives off the heartwood of living trees as well as on deadwood. Also known as weeping conk and warted oak polypore, they belong to a group called butt rot fungi.
Trees woods and wildlife
Stinky and unimpressive. Oakbug milkcap is a dull-looking fungus that is easily missed in woodland among its more spectacular cousins. It is edible, though is not to everyone’s taste, and is said to have an oily smell, similar to bed bugs. Yum.
Trees woods and wildlife
Carnivorous and oyster-like in appearance, these large, fleshy mushrooms are common throughout the UK's woodlands. They have a signature fan-shaped cap and are edible with a slight odour similar to aniseed.
Trees woods and wildlife
Weighty, fat and delicious with a cap like a crusty, well-baked bun. Penny buns, or ceps, are prized for their taste and benefits to woodland, tree and human health.
Trees woods and wildlife
A glistening white, translucent beauty which fights off its rivals with its own fungicide. It is associated with beech trees and is edible – but only once the off-putting mucus is washed off.
Trees woods and wildlife
Mystical and cheery, the scarlet elf cup grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots and beneath leaf litter on the woodland floor. Their bright pops of colour brighten up even the darkest winter day.
Trees woods and wildlife
Elegant and shabby-chic. Good to eat – unless you’re one of the one in 25 people whose stomach can’t tolerate it.
Trees woods and wildlife
Pungent and a little indecent, some Victorians were so embarrassed by these fungi that they would attack them with cudgels lest any impressionable young ladies might see them.
Trees woods and wildlife
A burst of sunshine in wintry woods, the bright orange of velvet shank fungus is a treat for the eyes on a dark day. Not only are they a cheery sight but they are also edible.
Trees woods and wildlife
Pastel-toned and edible with a magical twist. Wood blewit has a blue to violet-tinged cap and gills when young, with pale pink spores. It sometimes grows in circles called ‘fairy rings’, which can appear overnight and were once thought to indicate that magic was at work.
Trees woods and wildlife
A frilly sign of a witch’s curse, yellow brain is a parasitic jelly fungus that looks a little like a brain and feeds on fungi that feed on dead wood.
Helen Keating • 05 Nov 2018
There are poisonous mushrooms out there, and some of them are deadly. With sinister names - destroying angel, funeral bell and deathcap - it's a warning to steer clear. Here are seven to watch out for in the UK.
Learn what to look out for
