Butter Caps

The horrible weather is keeping me away from the coast and more inland where the shelter under the trees gives a little respite from the rain.

Whilst on one such walk recently along a ridge on the outskirts of Caerphilly, I spotted some mushrooms growing from amongst the leaves of Beech which was carpeting the woodland floor.  i thought at first they were a member of the Russula group, but although i scoured my fungi books I still wasn't sure.

I sent the pictures to Pat O'Reilly MBE of First Nature, and author of several books among them the excellent Fascinated by Fungi book.

Pat emailed me back confirming their identity, which as it turned out, was a new species for my fungi list.  So here I present to you Butter Caps.

Now commonly known as the Butter Cap, they were until recently often referred to as the Greasy Toughshank.  They are very common and widespread across Britain and Ireland. Sometimes found in deciduous woodland, they are mainly associated with coniferous forests on acid soils, where they can grow in large numbers beneath even the darkest of canopies.