Bound to the open, windswept landscapes of tundra-like environments, the Ptarmigan Lagopus muta finds its British sanctuary high in the Scottish mountains, where cold air and sparse vegetation still echo the conditions of its broader Arctic range. In the UK, the species occurs at the southernmost edge of its global distribution, with a small, fragmented population estimated at only a few thousand breeding pairs, making it one of Britain’s most specialised upland birds.

Rhodotus palmatus, the Wrinkled Peach, is a distinctive and uncommon fungus primarily associated with decaying hardwoods, especially elm. Its coral-pink to orange cap is marked by a network of raised, vein-like ridges that become more pronounced in moist conditions. This unusual surface pattern, combined with its often translucent, gelatinous texture, makes the species easy to recognize and a notable find for field mycologists.

Despite its rich peach-orange colouration, Neottiella rutilans (Pezizales: Pyronemataceae) is a small ascomycete fungus that is easily overlooked where it grows, typically among Polytrichum mosses on heathland or in light, sandy soils. Its close association with Polytrichum is characteristic of many species, which often form specialised parasitic or parasymbiotic relationships with their moss hosts.

In 2017 I made several visits to Warnham, West Sussex, to search for fungi and slime moulds. I am particularly drawn to cup fungi, and during an outing I photographed a representative selection of ascocarps growing on a fallen, heavily decayed hardwood log, likely Sycamore. Many brown cup fungi are notoriously difficult to identify with confidence based on macroscopic characters alone, so I collected a sample for assessment by Nick Aplin, the county recorder for ascomycetes.

Kretzschmaria deusta, commonly known as Brittle Cinder, is a formidable plant pathogen, one capable of inflicting serious structural damage on trees by instigating deep-seated decay in the root system and lower stem.

King Alfred's Cakes Daldinia concentrica, or Cramp Balls as they are also commonly known, a name born from the old belief that carrying them could ward off cramp, are common and widespread across much of Britain. Hard and weighty to the touch, they cling to fallen Ash and Beech where they grow in domed, charcoal-black forms that resemble small burnt loaves.

The gelatinous, often ear-shaped Jelly Ear Auricularia auricula-judae (Auriculariales: Auriculariaceae) is a widespread and common basidiomycete, typically forming rubbery, brown to reddish-brown fruit bodies that can persist for weeks in cool, damp conditions.

Auriscalpium vulgare, the Earpick Fungus, is highly specialised in its ecology, relying on decaying pine cones as its primary substrate. Its mycelium penetrates the cone’s woody tissues, breaking down tough structural compounds and contributing to nutrient recycling within coniferous forest floors.

In its native home of New Zealand, the brain-like Scarlet Berry Truffle Paurocotylis pila grows beneath Podocarpus and has evolved to mimic the plant’s fruit. Its spores are carried by large birds, which consume the fallen fruits and are artfully deceived into eating the fungus as well.

Many organisms perform a vital role in the nutrient cycle, particularly in assisting with the conversion of animal dung into humus. The organisms featuring most prominently in this role are insects, mainly flies and beetles, and various species of fungi.

Macrolepiota procera, the Parasol mushroom, is a large saprobic basidiomycete fungus with a conspicuous fruiting body resembling a parasol once fully expanded. Two forms are currently recognised.

Despite its soft, almost ghostly colouration and ethereal appearance, the Bearded Tooth Hericium erinaceus is one of the most captivating fungi to be found in woodlands. Its long, hanging spines resemble a frozen waterfall, giving it a look that is at once delicate and otherworldly. Beyond its visual charm, these spines are cleverly designed to release spores efficiently, helping this rare slow-growing fungus spread within its preferred habitats.

Although widespread in parts of southern England, the Zoned Rosette Podoscypha multizonata remains an elusive and infrequently recorded fungus, its rosette-like, banded brackets blending almost perfectly with leaf litter and the muted colours of the forest floor. This camouflage, coupled with its preference for deep, undisturbed shade, helps explain its apparent rarity.

Favouring deciduous woodland habitats, though it may also occur beneath conifers in mixed stands, Otidea onotica, commonly called Hare’s Ear, typically emerges in small, clustered assemblages. Despite its modest dimensions, the species reveals itself readily when illuminated by favourable light: its delicate, ear-shaped ascocarps, suffused with pink-tinged yellow-orange hues, lend it a quiet yet unmistakable presence on the forest floor.

Once thought of as a curious form of fungi, slime moulds are now acknowledged as being entirely unrelated. For more than a century, slime moulds were grouped with the Protozoa because they behaved like amoebae and had motile, single-celled stages. Opinions still differ as to their precise taxonomic classification but they are currently placed in the Amoebozoa.

Coprophilous fungi [those growing on dung] are highly satisfactory for demonstrating the diversity and morphology of a group of related organisms within an ecological system. Representative genera of most major groups of fungi can usually be guaranteed to appear on dung after a period of incubation. The dung of herbivores plays host to more species than that of carnivores - which is good news as far as I’m concerned as it’s far more preferable digging around in herbivore dung than that of others - I do have standards after all!

The aptly named Anemone or Starfish Stinkhorn Aseroë rubra is arguably the most striking of all stinkhorn species found in Britain. It is a non-native species, having been first imported to England from Australia, probably via the Netherlands, in around 1828, when it was first observed at Kew Gardens, in Surrey. To date, all other known recorded sightings in Britain have been from a few closely linked locations in the county of Surrey.

The genus Helvella includes a number of saucer or saddle-shaped fungi with a simple stem, cup-shaped forms, and includes some species with irregular and distorted heads and a hollow, ribbed, furrowed stem. It is a widespread, speciose genus of ascomycetes whose members are found in various terrestrial biomes of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Although an infrequent and rather localised species, Geastrum triplex , the Collared Earthstar, is probably the most commonly found of the British Geastrum species. Initially appearing as a part-buried ball, typically with a conspicuous beak, the mature fruiting body eventually comprises of an outer star, an inner saucer-like collar (sometimes), and a central spore sac.