Things I write down while walking, mostly the ones I misremember every
autumn and end up looking up again.
Spore print
Cap laid gills down on paper for a few hours under a bowl. The colour
that comes off separates families that look identical in the hand —
white, cream, pink, rust, chocolate, black.
Volva
The cup at the stem base, left over from the veil the young fruit body
grew inside. Easy to leave behind in the soil if you pick by twisting,
which is the whole reason to dig instead.
Mycorrhiza
The trade between fungal threads and tree roots: sugars going one way,
water and phosphorus the other. It explains why the same species keeps
appearing under the same trees season after season.
Ring zone
What is left of the partial veil once it tears — sometimes a proper
skirt, sometimes only a smudge of fibres. Worth checking before the
rain washes it off.