As the soil
was quite poor and acidic and unsuitable for agriculture, the land has remained
mostly undeveloped through the centuries and to this day. The New
Forest was designated a National Park in 2004 and is 56,651 ha (566
sq miles) in area. It is Europe ’s largest area
of ancient pasture woodland with about 2,000 free roaming ponies as well as
deer, donkeys, cows and in autumn, pigs. It attracts approximately 18 million
visitors a year.
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| Orange birch bolete (Leccinum versipelle) (Photo: Diane Ball) |
About 2,700 species of fungus have been
found in the Forest. Many of these have very descriptive common names. Photos
were shown of many gilled fungi starting with the plentiful Amanita sp of which the well-known fly
agaric Amanita muscari is one. Many
of these, especially A.phalloides (death
cap) and A.virosa (destroying angel),
are extremely poisonous. Russula spp,
the brittlegills, are often brightly coloured and these were prolific. Other
gilled fungi included Lepiota sp –
parasols, Collybia sp – toughshanks, Lepista sp – blewits, Clitocybe
sp – funnel caps, Laccaria sp – deceivers,
Lactarius sp – milk caps, Mycena sp – bell caps, Hyphololoma sp – brick caps, Cystoderma sp – powdercaps and Gymnopilus sp – rustgills. A number of
boletes were represented. Most of these have a distinct cap with pores instead
of gills. Leccinum versipelle, the
orange birch bolete is a particularly attractive one.
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| Dyer's polypore (Phaeolus schweintzi) (Photo by Diane Ball) |
Large numbers
of bracket fungi are found in the wooded areas often in overlapping tiers, some
quite large. Many cause diseases in their hosts – butt rot, white rot and
heartwood rot among them. The fungi produce enzymes which can break down lignin
and cellulose. Phaeolus schweintzii has
several common names – fuzzy polypore/velvet-top/dyer’s polypore – this last
because it is a source of green, yellow and brown dyes. The olive-brown pores
run onto the stocky stem and become maze-like with age giving the fungus a
striking appearance.
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| A marble quarry |
Report 2: Geology of Greece. Talk by Bob Fuller
Long-time club member, Bob fuller gave a fascinating insight into some of the geology of Greece, following his recent trip there with his wife, Leanne. From their travels, and from his own research, Bob detailed connections between mining (of marble, lead, silver and gold) and the ancient history of Greece in particular on the Attica Peninsula, and on some of the islands in the Aegean Sea.
"Greece's history and its geology are inseparable," said Bob.
Bob's photographs illustrated so much - mountainous landscapes, how marble is formed, marble quarries, how marble is transported, restoration work on ancient buildings and monuments, etc.
Bob explained three common reasons why archaeological
sites had become covered: river silt (e.g. at Olympia), rock fall (e.g. at
Delphi) and volcanic eruption (e.g. on the island of Santorini). Special
features of Bob’s photo-graphs were details of Santorini, showing, for example
- volcanic banding in the caldera, grapevines trained to a low-growing form as
protection from strong winds and terraced houses built on steep slopes. Thank
you Bob
(Report by Michael Rooke)