Parasol Mushroom

I was leading a night navigation training session in Panshanger Park and up on the southern hillside we came upon dozens of these and some of them 20cm across. They are edible but we didn’t harvest them. I guess it’s a matter of what you know. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick blackberries despite there being lots of poisonous wild berries growing in the UK, but I’m still wary of mushroom picking. It seems to be rare knowledge in Britain and yet in France picking mushrooms is common.

The nav session itself was very successful - people enjoyed it and had fun. I’m going to have to book another one as it was over subscribed. I really didn’t expect that.