Fungi are a diverse group of living things classified in their own kingdom separate from plants and animals. 

Name: Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris

Description: Creamy white cap, 3 - 10cm across, sometimes developing small scales. The edge normally remains down-turned or slightly in-rolled even when the cap has fully matured. The white flesh may turn pinkish when cut. The white stipe is 3 - 10cm tall and 1 - 2cm in diameter; smooth above the single ring and scaly below. Intially the free crowded gills are pink, turning dark brown before blackening. The ring soon disappears.

Habitat: Meadows during summer and early autumn.

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Name: Wood Mushroom Agaricus silvicola

Description: Pure smooth white caps 6 - 14cm, that tend to yellow with age. Initially spherical, then convex before flattening. When bruised the caps slowly change colour to ochre. The free white gills turn greyish-pink and then chocolate brown as its spores mature. The stipes are 5 - 8cm tall and 1.5cm diameter with small bulge at the base, white at first they turn yellow-grey when mature. Distinct aniseed smell.

Habitat: Woodland species associated with hornbeam and holly. Has a preference for areas with leaf litter.

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Name: Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria

Description: Distinctive red caps with white spots. Unlikely to be confused with another species.

Habitat: The Fly Agaric mushroom is associated with silver birch roots which radiate from the tree. There is a beneficial relationship between the fungal threads (mycorrhiza) and tree roots called symbiosis. The fungi provide the tree roots with water, essential nutrients and chemicals. The tree supplies carbohydrates to the fungi, which, lacking chlorophyll cannot make their own sugar.

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Name: Yellow Stainer Agaricus xanthodermus

Description: The cap, 50-150mm across, is globose, often with flattened top, becoming broadly convex. The cap is matt white before greying, it stains yellow when cut or damaged. The smooth and silky stipe, 150mm long, has a bulbous base. There is a large, white, ring that persists with age. Gills are free and off-white, then pink and grey-brown. Dark brown spores.

Habitat: Saprobic mushroom associated with hawthorn, found in disturbed grassland during summer and autumn.

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Name: Blushing Wood Mushroom Agaricus silvaticus

Description: Greyish-brown cap, 10cm diameter, covered with broad scales, initially hemispherical, it flattens out with maturity. The brownish stipe often has a hanging ring. The white flesh turns reddish when cut.

Habitat: Found in leaf litter and on grass.

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Name: Shaggy Inkcap Coprinus comatus

Description: Fruiting bodies first appear as white cylinders emerging from the ground, before developing bell-shaped scale-covered caps open. Initially, the gills are white, then pink and then black. The mushroom will often turn black and dissolve in a matter of hours after being picked or depositing spores.

Habitat: Found in grassy locations.

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