Guide to mushroom keys

Few keys to ID fungi:
http://ift.tt/1VHtRc0 General key to Agaricales and Boletaceae

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dqX General key
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http://ift.tt/1VHtSww Key to Agaricus

http://ift.tt/1Rr0b2u Site about amanitaceae by Tulloss

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwy key to Armillaria by Watling

http://boletales.com/ Site about Boletales by Boris Assyov

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dr3. Key to Cantharellus

http://ift.tt/1VHtRc2 Key to Clavarioid fungi to Genera

http://ift.tt/1Rr0biK Key to Clavulina

http://ift.tt/1VHtRc6 Key to Collybia s.l.

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dr7 Site about Coprinus s.l. by Uljé

http://ift.tt/1VHtRc8 Key to Conocybe by Orton

http://ift.tt/1Rr0biP Key to Corticiaceae

http://ift.tt/1VHtRca Cortinarius I by Orton

http://ift.tt/1Rr0biV Cortinarius II by Orton

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwF Key to Cup fungi pt1 by Spooner

http://ift.tt/1Rr0biX Key to Cup fungi pt2 by Spooner

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwH Key to Cup fungi pt3 by Spooner

http://ift.tt/1Rr0biZ Key to Cup fungi pt4 by Spooner

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwJ Key to Daldinia

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eeo key to Cortinarius subgenus Dermocybe

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwM Key to Cortinarius subgenus Myxacium by Geoffrey Kibby

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dHp Key to Deconica

http://ift.tt/1Rr0ees Dung fungi by Watling&Richardson

http://ift.tt/1VHtRss key to Entoloma by Noordeloos

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eey Key to Entoloma subgenus Leptonia

http://ift.tt/1VHtRsu key to Flammulina

http://ift.tt/1VHtRsw Key to Galerina

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eeE Keys to Geastraceae but also Lyophyllum,Helvella,Elaphomyces, etc.

http://ift.tt/1VHtSwO key to Geopora by Dougoud

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dHv Key to Gymnopilus

http://ift.tt/1VHtSN4 Key to Hebeloma sect denudata

http://ift.tt/1VHtSN6 Key to Hebeloma sect Theobromina

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dHz Key to Hygrocybe By Leonard

http://ift.tt/1VHtRsC Key to Hygrophorus

http://ift.tt/1Rr0euY key to Inocybe

http://ift.tt/1VHtSN8 Key to Laccaria

http://ift.tt/1VHtRsI Key to Lactarius By Leonard & McAdam

http://ift.tt/1Rr0ev3 to Lactarius sect. deliciosi

http://ift.tt/1Gd4Sta Key to Leccinum by Geoffrey Kibby

http://www.mycena.no/ site and key to Mycena By Aronsen

http://ift.tt/1Rr0ev7 Key to Naucoria
http://ift.tt/1Rr0evb Key to Naucoria by PAM

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dXT Key to Otidea

http://ift.tt/1VHtUoa Key to Paxillus

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dXV Key to Peziza

http://ift.tt/1VHtSNg Key to Phellodon

http://ift.tt/1VHtSNi Key to Pholiota

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eLs Key to Plectania

http://ift.tt/1VHtUoc Key to Pluteus by Iliffe

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dXZ Key to Pluteus sect. pluteus

http://ift.tt/1VHtUoe wood rotting bluing Psilocybe key

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dY2 Key to Psathyrellaceae and coprinoid fungi by
Melzer

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eLw Key to Ramaria

http://ift.tt/1VHtUog Key to Rhodocybe

http://ift.tt/1Rr0eLA Key to Blackening Russula by Geoffrey Kibby

http://ift.tt/1Rr0dY4 Key to Xerocomus s.l. by Hills

British mycology mushroom identification key.

Growing Morel Animation

I made this cure morel growing animation!

Angies Birthday Treasure Hunt to the Rising Sun

So on the 14th of March, 10 intrepid adventures set off in pursuit of treasure. All that was given was a map and a trusty mobile phone by which they were to receive clues.

They were asked to meet at Liverpool Street Station and wait further instruction. They were met by Angie and guided to the start point at St Botolph without - Bishopsgate where they received...

...the first clue.

"Maude spies through the keyhole to the south facing dagger. It points to the crescent equation to which you must endeavour. "

To find Maude a little searching was required. Maude could be found to the left of the image next to a decorative water fountain.

Once Maude was found you can proceed to the next part of the clue "spies through the keyhole to the south facing dagger". If you stood where the wife of the Reverend was remembered and looked through the keyhole you would see a south facing dagger pointing to the crescent equation.

The dagger points to a club called the DollHouse.

Looking around the DollHouse our adventures found an equation under the crescent moon ontop of the DollHouse which had "3x4" the answer to which was 12.  Once this answer was text to the quiz master the next clue was sent...

"Along the Wall you must walk until Rome has been burnt by an emperor then honour his God by proceeding. Tell me how many lamps the Empress of India is spying."

Our adventurers immediately recognised that the emperor and Rome reference was Nero, there was a Cafe Nero on the London Wall close to the DollHouse so this is where they went. Next to The cafe they found an archway which they entered...

Once god was honoured the Empress could be found here...

At the time (Saturday 3pm) the gate was closed.

The trick here was not to count all of the lamps, but to stand directly underneath the Empress and see as she saw. If you stand on the opposite side of the gate you can only see 6 lamps, if you stand directly underneath her you will see 7. Which is the answer which unlocks the next clue.

"Follow the Wall past the circus and Charter to Angies profession, count the number of wings on the swans in the alley. "

To answer this you needed to know that Angie is an accountant. About 100m from the Empress was a sign saying "Institute of Chartered Accountants".

This took you to the Institute which was located on Great Swan Alley.

When making the Hunt we thought to ask the hunters to count all of the Wings on Swans Alley, we counted all of them (we got to 40 something) when we got to the end of the street we burst out in laughter and changed the clue to count the number of wings on the swans in the alley, the answer was 2. 

"At the end of the alley, bare right and follow the light of the house to the globe and run with the dexter fox towards the reverend black. By the ONE London wall you will find the medieval wall which leads you to the secret garden, smell Irises perfume and ask her for her neighbours number. If you are unsure, follow the down pour, where you will find the map confirming the cipher."

Some of the treasure hunters headed the other way at this point but came back after a while. The other team recognised the Globe as a famous pub close to the location and headed in the right direction. This took them down Moorgate back to the wall. None of the teams picked up on the "light of the house" part. This clue was put to help them reaffirm they were going in the right direction, if they looked closely they would have seen...

Its pretty tricky to see, but if missed the idea was that you could pretty much see the Globe at the end of the street (just by the bus on the left).

Once you got to the Globe next door is the Fox. There are two foxes on the sign, the sinister one pointing right and the dexterous one pointing to the left. To confirm this clue the Reverend Black was added which was supposed to be a clue to head to Black Friars which is up the Wall.

"By the ONE London wall..." 

"...you will find the medieval wall..."

There aren't photos of the Garden but behind the wall to the right of the picture was a botanical garden with medicinal herbs. When looking for the next number we looked high and low for a number, each plant had a plaque with some historical/botanical details. Next to the iris flower was a flower which was planted in the 15 century. We were hoping at this point our adventurers would cotton on to the fact that each clue resulted in a number and possibly would start to question why...

If that was too difficult an extra clue was given here... "follow the down pour..." behind the garden was a fountain next to which was this map...

The answer was 15, the final clue was then sent...

Walk to the end of the Wall and up the northern road to find Thomas Moore. Ask him about the lonely Knight protecting the passage through the forest. Find the Knight standing guard next to his helmet and follow the passage to a Knight lined road. Find another helmet less Knight and solve the riddle:

This thing all things devours;

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

Slays king, ruins town,

And beats mountain down.

Opposite this, you will find a number by which this word rhymes, this is your first clue to the final answer.

Look for the white dragon in the sky salivating on his yellow prey, instead run towards the rising sun casting a shadow upon Angies Castle.

The last part to this tale, is for you to recount and give the barkeep a final number to surmount. 

This was pretty bloody cryptic, we thought to give a really hard one for them all to think for about for a while and build up their thirst for their potential reward. 

The beginning of the clue is pretty straight forward, although it required a bit of geographical knowledge in finding the northern road from the round about although the map should have helped. Going up the road you come across Thomas Moore house, opposite to which was this fella...

As this was a little difficult to fathom we added the clue with his helmet...

This was on "Braid Wood Passage" which should have given them a little clue. Where our adventurers got really stuck was the last part of the clues and in retrospect we could have made it easier for them. At this point we knew that both teams were going to convene as they got the last clue pretty sharpish.

We tried to roll with the idea of Knights as the road was called King Horn street which we though appropriate. If you get to the end of this road there is another "helmetless knight" (a bollard without a conical top) which was underneath a sundial which was supposed to represent "time" which is the answer to the riddle. Opposite the sundial was a sign saying established in 1979 which was Angies birthday. Lastly on this corner, if they looked up to the sky they would have seen...

The White Dragon, this was more apparent on the day and from the "head" of the crane was a wire which was attached to a yellow hook, which looked like the dragon was salivating on its yellow prey. Looking to the right our adventurers could see...

Angies Castle in the Shadow of the Rising Sun. At this point as per the last line of the clue (barkeep) they should have realised they were looking for a bar or pub. At this point it was our intention that they would sit in the bar and figure out a final guess to the clue in relation to their guesses which were...

12, 7, 2, 15 and 1979.

12 + 7 +2 +15 = 36 (it was Angies 36th birthday) and 1979 was the year she was born.

We instructed the barkeep to be a straight faced as possible until the number was said upon which he instructed them to go upstair where they would find...

 Happy Birthday Angie!

Amarilla

Any suggestion what this might be? (I know its a mushroom). It was found on Hampstead Heath, London, UK.

Dryad's Saddle

Interesting, understated mushroom.

• Grows on trees.
• Has a porous underside much like a bolette.
• Usually found May to June.
• Younger specimens are better than older.

From a differential point of view, Dryad's saddle can be confused with other polypores, however its distinctive top, porous underside and "meatiness" (polypores have a woody texture) make it pretty distinctive.

The Foolproof Four

"The Foolproof Four" are four excellent species to begin with. Their characteristics are easily identified, and easy to remember. The Foolproof Four are: 

• Morels
• Chicken Mushroom
• Chanterelles
• Puffballs. 

I usually add Oysters and Hen of the Woods or a general bolete.

Get two good field guides, before you go out learn how to use them and read through them to familiarize yourself with their use.