- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Hi I have been searching for years to find a death cap to see one in the flesh so to speak, unfortunately I live in the north west of England and I have never seen or know of anyone who has ever seen one in these parts and yet all other Amanita species are seen in here in abundance, down South especially Hampshire and also in the east Norfolk etc they are very common/widespread and grow next to the same trees we have in the north, Birch,Oak,Beech etc but you would never see them ever up here, any thoughts as to why this is the case anyone ? There are several records of Amanita phalloides in the north-west on the Fungal Records Database of Britain & Ireland. The old database is easily accessible (although the pages can take quite a few seconds to load/reload).
The homepage for that database, which is freely accessible to anyone, is: –
http://basidiochecklist.science.kew.org/BritishFungi/FRDBI/FRDBI.htm Searching that site by vice county will give you some idea as to where they have been found in particular areas.
A quick search shows records for Gait Barrows, Trowbarrow Quarry, Freeholders Wood and several more locations in the north-west.
The new database which replaces that old one is possibly more difficult to navigate, (and you need to register), but the homepage for that one is: –
http://www.frdbi.info/ I’ve personally seen them at Beacon Fell Country Park and at Roudsea Wood in the past. – But although one would expect to see them reappear year on year in a given woodland, they never seem to reappear at exactly the same places, so it’s always a matter of luck whether you would find them at some other part of the same wood in another year.
As with most species, and more so with the less common ones, you would never expect to go out with any certainty of finding something specific.
But if you go out foraying on a regular basis you will more than likely, (as I did), stumble across one when you aren’t particularly looking for it.
[attachment=0]02 Amanita phalloides – Deathcap.jpg[/attachment] 
[attachment=1]Amanita phalloides – Deathcap3.jpg[/attachment] Regards,
Mike.
Hi Mike thanks for your reply I have only just noticed it a year later ! That’s great info you have given me in my search for Amanita Phalloides, I have been researching a lot as to why they are so rare in the North West in particular and so common in the south east and east coast and have come to an interesting conclusion, Death caps only appear where the soil is Alkaline and most of the North West the soil is acidic but not so in the areas you mentioned particularly the south lakes/north Lancashire area around the river Lune there is a lot of Limestone rock, which is also true of the south east, limestone rock creates alkaline soil and therefore wooded areas whose soil has a high lime content will produce deathcaps, I live in Manchester and have searched all woods in a 20 mile radius of here for years and have never come across Amanita Phalloides but they all have highly acidic soil and I’m sure this is the reason why
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.