With the onset of autumn we now see the main plant flowering season come to an end and it won’t be long before the leaves start to change colour. However nature does not ‘shut up shop’ completely at this time, while plants need sunlight to grow through photosynthesis there is a group of organisms that don’t contain chlorophyll and thrive on nutrients derive from a different source at this time of year, Fungi. Many fungi are saprophytes. A saprophyte is an organism that acquires nutrients from dead organic matter. This can be as common as seeing mushrooms growing on dead wood or mold surviving in your refrigerator on last week's takeout food. While you certainly won’t see mouldy food at Mount Falcon, you will have the opportunity to see a wide variety of fungi (which can be beautiful to look at in their own right). We have a wide variety of habitat, grassland, tress and leaf litter, all cater to the needs of different fungi. Why not take a walk on the estate and see how many different varieties you can see. A word of caution it is difficult to the untrained eye to tell the difference between edible and poisonous, so best to leave them alone and let them grow. The photos shown were all taken on the estate.
