North Wales is a fantastic place to look for fungi, with a wide range of habitats and ideal climate. If you’ve been out to a local woodland, parkland or ungrazed grassland recently you have probably noticed some colourful mushrooms and other fungi scattered around. Although some species produce their visible fruiting bodies year round in the UK, Autumn is the prime time of year to go looking for fungi, especially after a drop in temperature and an increase in rainfall following a dry spell.
Late summer into early autumn is peak season for observing the Robin’s Pincushion, a red and spiky gall around the size of a small plum which is found on dog rose (Rosa canina) and some other rose species. If you have been out foraging rose hips, or even just admiring the colour which is popping from the hedgerows here in the UK, you have possibly seen these intriguing growths on the wild rose stems. At one point I thought that they were just oddly developed flowers or fruits due to a genetic mutation or cross-pollination with local cultivars, but they are actually much more impressive than that.
Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a tall flowering shrub with clusters of white, fragrant flowers in late Spring and red berries in early autumn. It has a long history of uses as a source of food, for hedgerows, for keeping insects (and perhaps the Devil) at bay, and a host of other uses. It is sometimes known as the Judas Tree, from the tale that Judas Iscariot hung himself from the bough of an Elder. There are also many (often paradoxical) folk tales surrounding the use and planting of the tree – from seeing the devil himself after burning the wood to planting Elder near a home to ward him off. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the leaves of Elder are an effective way of keeping flies at bay – most of the British Isles have some tale or other about Elder being planted near dairies to keep flies away from the milking animals, or being tied to the brow band of horses.
Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica) are a native superfood in the UK. What’s even better is that they are wonderfully easy to identify, collect and use! You will find stinging nettles available year round in abundance spread across a wide variety of habitats making them a great plant for those new to foraging.