Fungi and slime moulds have fascinated me since I was young — thanks in part to the frequent walks at Strumpshaw Fen with my family.
I started attending the Norfolk Fungus Study Group fungi forays in the late summer of 2022, and to improve my identification skills, I decided to conduct my own fungi survey at Strumpshaw Fen that autumn.
To further my knowledge, I then am undertaking another fungi survey at Strumpshaw Fen; this time over six months starting in August 2023.
Many of my identifications will be either uncertain or wrong — you should not use the information on this website as guidance for the edibility of any fungus.
You can use the feedback form below to contact me, or alternatively you can use the feedback form below each species entry for specific feedback.
EDIT 04-07-2025
In the past year, I have come to realise quite a few of my identifications have been wrong ( as I expected ).
For example, I had identified Lachnum virgineum as Eupezizella roseogutatta, which is an obscure fungus without much information online.
I can’t remember why I did that, but they have been corrected ( to the best of my ability ) and an edit in the style of this one put in the post.
I have continued to see many interesting species, especially slime moulds, as Strumpshaw Fen. If you are interested in seeing these finds, please have a look at the Traversing the Hinterland Blog.
Survey Criteria
Recording and photographing every single fungus I see would be too time-consuming, so my criteria is:
- I take no samples nor do any microscopy to aid my identification ( except where I have permission ), so I often can’t be species-specific. Therefore my identifications are sometimes general ( e.g. Chlorociboria aeruginascens vs Chlorociboria aeruginosa )
- If I see a species that I have already recorded on a previous visit, I will mention it but not necessarily provide a photo or write any written notes unless it was of specific interest ( i.e. an interesting form or especially good example of the fungus ) or I was still trying to identify it at the time.
- I ignore any species I am not interested in unless there are few fungi to be found that day. Most of the fungi I ignore I classify as “Little Brown Mushrooms”, many of which I wouldn’t be able to identify without a microscope anyway.
All the scientific names have been checked on Fungal Names at time of writing.
Locations
Some of the main locations I have designated as “zones” to aid locating where I found specific species.
The Locations page and a map of the survey area is still in production.
For fungi found that are rare and/or highly prized, I have placed them in the “everywhere” section to protect them.
You can find every record I’ve made by species in the Index of Species page ( currently under construction ).
Acknowledgements
RSPB Strumpshaw Fen for allowing me undertake the survey.
Paul McAlenan – for photography and the custom website ( and some of the identifications ).
Sometimes, I have used “we” instead of “I” – this is because Paul was with me taking photos and occasionally spotting fungi and slime moulds as well.
Norfolk Fungi Study Group – for helping me with identifications and general guidance
Websites and books I regularly refer to are:
Fungi of Temperate Europe Volumes I & II by Thomas Læssøe and Jens H. Petersen
The colours in my descriptions are generally taken from The Danish Mycological Society’s Colour-chart.