Funga

Abbey Fields is home to a host of fungi, many of which are very evident from the fruiting bodies – mushrooms and toadstools – which erupt into our consciousness each autumn. You can see a gallery of photographs of funga taken at Abbey Fields here where you can also help us with identification of the funga.

But many of us know little about funga – a third pillar of life alongside flora and fauna – which includes not only fungi but also lichens, yeasts (as in cooking), rusts, mildews and moulds.

Suffice to say, funga are essential to the web of life and include the largest living organisms – such as a honey fungus in Oregon, USA, which is believed to be between 2000 and 8000 years old. This one organism extends across 10 km2 and is of enormous weight.