Wrinkled Peach...fourth appearance

After dropping off an exhibition poster at the John Clare Cottage, Pete and i had a leisurely walk round Rice Wood, known to John Clare as 'Royce Wood'. It has changed a lot since his day, with the ancient oaks having been felled within living memory and much of it replanted with Scots Pine and Beech, neither of which are native locally. But it still has a magic of its own, with many plants characteristic of ancient woodlands, and a rich fungal flora which has been enriched by the introduction of new tree species.

The western margin of the wood is still rich in elms, and it is here that we found the emerging fruiting bodies of the very aptly named Wrinkled Peach, possibly my favourite fungus and one which has appeared in my journal before. It prefers to grow on dead and rotting elms, normally on decorticated logs. Here, it has found a small section of a standing dead elm which has lost its bark. It's quite a rare species, but can be locally frequent in woods with a good population of elms.

There were plenty of other species of interest to be found including the peculiarly greyish-green Aniseed Toadstool, which I've discovered that I can smell while still metres away from it. And the dramatic brackets of Purplepore Bracket Fungus, a conifer specialist. Not to mention many tiny unidentifiable species, and a fine population of a slime-mould which is probably Physarum album. Such riches to be found in a small area of woodland surrounded by housing and arable fields - an island of biodiversity.

There are also many riches to be found on Blipfoto, a civilised virtual island in a troubled world. This is my 4000th blip, and though I have much less time to spend in this delightful virtual world, I can't imagine life without dropping in every now and then to see how everyone is doing. And I am enormously appreciative of all who drop in on me and leave comments, stars and hearts - gifts which I'm aware I don't always reciprocate...