i'm dead curious to learn more about identifying mushrooms in the wild, i see them all the time on my walks in coasts and woods, so i'm going to make an effort to learn directly from people who know what they're doing this autumn and join in the fun : )

here's a list so far of some local (south devon) ones i've managed to find (these people haven't quite made it to the 21st century with the internetz and all that, it seems...

if you plan on going make sure you call and book in advance, sounds like they're popular and keep numbers limited (probably another reason why finding out when/where they are online is such a f'ing faff!)

25 sept 2008 (thursday)
from 10-00 to 12 noon & 13-30 to 15-30
Saltram Estate, Plympton (01752 333 500)
with Paul Lunt, ecologist from Plymouth Uni
£4-50

18 oct 2008 (saturday)
from 10-00 to 13-00
Haldon Forest Park, Forestry Commision,
Dawlish & Dawlish Warren at Rangers Office
£5-00

26 oct 2008 (sunday)
from 10-15 to 11-30
Oaklands Wood, Dawlish/Holcombe
£3-50

that's what i could find so far, feel free to add more : )

You had my hopes up these were planned groups that went out finding the magic kind and all getting completely out of it.

But hey if you're intrested in other kinds of mushrooms have fungi (haha that was such a terrible pun I really should delete it, actually is it a pun I can't remember these brackets have gone on far too long and I'm just typing whatever comes into my head now any way I'm high excuse me)

edited just to add: these people who run these days out must be mightily proud of having their nice little organisation posted about on a site like this.

well learning to identify mushrooms (full stop) is a start to identifying whatever you're looking for, you have to start somewhere. as i'm a novice, i'm glad to learn from someone who knows what they're talking about. if you want to identify magic mushrooms, you need to know about the rest of them too, to ensure you pick the right ones : )

i don't think the kind of forays you were thinking of would be so organised as to actually post this far in advance (online, to boot) when they're meeting up, etc. ; )

LOL @ pun + stoner rambling ; )

well i doubt that the visitdevon website people will ever know that we've listed their events, they can't even be arsed to manage their sites better and update them more frequently, i can imagine they look at their referring URL stats maybe once a year, if that.

haldon hill looks promising, i see loads of pics from other fungi enthusiasts posted. nice to have a large old wood somewhere closer than hampshire : )

I'm sure it's not illegal to out and pick them, but I think you're right us shroom heads would not be organised enough to plan events like this.

LOL I can imagine myself on one of these days out.

Guide: now these mushrooms you don't want to eat as they are of the magic variety.

Me:back in a minute

a few hours later........

Guide: I wonder whats got into him everything thing seems to be amazing to him and he's talking utter shite have you been eating those fucking mushrooms I told you not to.

Me: wow look at the colours

LMFAO I would be tempted to go on those days out just to be shown how to indentify libs (yeah I've taken them before but never seen them in the wild)

I've seen liberty caps in the wild. Dartmoor used to be full of them, I don't know if this is still the case. Though saying that there's been so much rain and mild weather I reckon it could be a bumper year. Unfortunately if some idiots go up and pick them wrong it screws it up for everyone.

Picking the wrong ones is my biggest worry

They look like this

I've seen a liberty cap before but I know theres alot of mushrooms out there that look similar but are poisonous.

i believe i've just successfully found a liberty cap today walking along a bridal path in a grassy wet bit. it looked so fresh that it must have just opened only a bit earlier from discovery. it was just there, and for a moment i thought maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me and i was just seeing a photo from my field guide burnt into my memory lol, and i knew it was the one, my first and upon testing its spores at home, i can confidently say it's the right genus. fucking ace, i never seem to be so lucky!

fyi: spore test for the kind of mushrooms you want to research are purple-brown mainly. seems to certainly be the case for liberty caps.

i'm brewing it in a tea (this one), but i don't expect much because it was just that one.

there's loads of mushrooms out there at the moment already. i was in a very old local wood not too long ago and took pics of at least a dozen different fungi. i reckon they're right about this being a particularly good year, i've never seen so many parasols on the coast path in years. good stuff : )

ILB: get yourself a good field guide 2nd hand, something with a plastic cover is probably best given our lovely climate : )

talking of fungi forays my legal edible mushrooms are growing like mad now.

I think I'm going on a short trip this weekend.

lucky sod, mine still haven't even colonised : ((