Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

A week ago I noticed one of those beautiful red toadstools in our garden – the classic red fungus with white dots all over the skin.   Amanita muscaria or Fly agaric – there are a few different sub-species with different colourations (orange-red to yellow, and various colours of the “dots”). This is a Mycorrhizal fungus that is associated with a few common host trees: Birch, beech and pine trees. It’s not very edible – in fact, it’s better not to muck around with. Some young children have ended up being poisoned and some rather risky adults (trying to go on a Hallucinogenic journey) ended up in similar troubles.   But they look great, and this was the first time I saw this species in our front garden, which surprised me. Of course, I never saw the 7-meter tall Betula which really need pruning away from electricity wires…   Many species are doing a great job in recycling dead materials, fallen leaves, and dead branches, and also dead trunks in all shapes and sizes.   These are some example