Fungi
Following Dove's advice, I cleared the space under my pear tree. However, when I disturbed the stones that were lying around the base of the trunk, a considerable number of very unpleasant looiking fungi appeared, most of them brown but some round and white, as seen in my second and third photographs. The round white object under the tree in the first one is a stone, not a fungus.
Does anyone know what sort these are and if they're harmful in any way, please?
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The ones on the right are earthstars.
Thank you, Fidget. I will google them to find out if they're harmful as they look rather hideous(!) and the smell of mushrooms round the tree was nostril- piercing!
The white ones were much smaller and also seemed a little less offensive.
I've just googled it. According to Wikepedia, they have some medicinal properties. I'm glad they're good for something as they look ghastly.
The name of their subclass: “Phallomycetidae” is rather apt, I think!
Hi Artemis, I rather agree with you that they look less than appealing. Last autumn I used a lot of mushroom compost all over the garden and I now have quite a few mushrooms sprouting about the place. Mine are of the white variety and much better looking than yours.
As for botanical names, the one that makes me giggle is that Donkey Fart, I mean, of course, Onopordon!
Earthstars are lovely, never seen them in my garden but can offer Dead Man's Fingers.
we don't respect our fungi as much as they deserve
In the sticks near Peterborough
Onopordon or onopordum, Danae, yes, worth noting.
Hi Nut, perhaps we should appreciate more the ecological role of fungi but that doesn't mean we have to find them aesthetically pleasing, surely.
When you see an earth star "in the flesh" you might change your opinion. I itch even when I think of them!