From: nochance@nospam.no   
      
   Last week's rain has helped the mushroom season to start properly in   
   Scotland. In a foray a couple of days ago areas sheltered from the wind were   
   almost carpeted in Russulas. Got a few chanterelles but no ceps, save for a   
   very mouldy possible ex-cep which was past the ID stage. Saw a monster, what   
   I'm pretty sure is, Slimy Beech Tuft/ Porcelain Fungus/ Poached Egg fungus   
   (Oudemansiella mucida) bigger than my hand! In the summer I was enjoying   
   particularly juicy and delicious bilberries in this area and they have been   
   buried by some excavation work from some construction project. I remember   
   those bushes being there for years. Collected an interesting mushroom to   
   identify when I got back home. It reminded me of Rozites (now Cortinarius   
   apparently) but on checking my books it looks unlikely. I also collected a   
   purple Russula in the area which has been annoying me for a while, and still   
   did not manage to identify it.   
      
   Now the wind has died down, the ground is damp and it's humid and getting   
   milder I reckon the next couple of weeks are going to be spectacular. It's   
   shame that such abundance is concentrated into a few weeks of the year with   
   this hobby.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)