Country diary: King Alfred's to blame for supper getting burnt

Joan ’s Hole, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire:An extended campfire yarn unfurls around some unusual-looking fungiFruit has just started falling in the damson orchard. We can ’t help squashing those that lie on the narrow paths to the rusting shepherd’s hut that’s home for a few days. There’s no phone signal, no wifi, and we’ve eschewed the camp stove in favour of the outdoor fireplace. Smoke coiling into the evening air wards off the gnats and midges while the potatoes nestle in the embers.I ’ve just started boiling the eggs when my son returns from the woodpile with an expression of blended revulsion and puzzlement, and holds out a log on which are arrayed what look at first glance like a row of large turds, though on closer inspection they are more like carbonised doughballs. They’ re brittle and almost weightless and, cracked open, they reveal growth rings – matryoshka layers of charcoal and silver, ball within ball within ball. A copious dusting of spores escapes to coat fingers, clothes and the logs we’re perched on.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Fungi Environment Plants Rural affairs Biology Science UK news Source Type: news