A beginner’s guide to wild mushrooms
It’s that time of year when wild mushrooms can be found in abundance. But if you don’t know much about mushrooms, identifying them can be tricky – especially when more than 1,500 species have been recorded in Jersey.
If you’re a beginner, here are six species to look out for, all with distinct characteristics that make them simple to spot. Take a stroll in the countryside or enjoy one of Jersey’s many woodland walks and see what you can find.
Remember that many fungi are poisonous, so don’t use this as a foraging guide for culinary use.
Jelly Ear
As its name would suggest, this fungus looks uncannily like a human ear. Jelly ear mushrooms (Auricularia auricula-judae) are tan-brown in colour with a velvet appearance. They like damp, shady conditions and you’ll see them growing in clusters on decaying branches – particularly elder but also beech, sycamore and ash. Individual lobes grow up to 10cm in diameter.
