Mayford Heritage Pond

Fungi

In autumn the fungal world comes to the fore on Mayford Green.  Species with wonderful names such as Earth Fan, Bay Boletus, Eyelash Fungus, Velvet Shank, and Dead Man's Fingers are just some of these fascinating life forms that emerge from the ground and rotting wood.

Fungi are not plants and are in their own Kingdom of living things.  They do not contain chlorophyll and therefore cannot make their own food, which they have to obtain by various means.  This is usually done by feeding off dead stuff or by parasitizing plants or other fungi.

The fungi that you see are just the fruiting bodies, the equivalent to an apple on a tree.  The body of a fungus, called the mycelium, is usually underground and made up from tiny individual thread-like structures called hyphae.

To encourage a greater variety of fungi several individual logs have been placed around the edge of the area and a larger stack of dead wood has been placed near the bushes at the back.