FUNGI
FUNGI
In the realm of Mycology the Woolhope Club has long been acknowledged as the pioneer of the special field meeting specifically devoted to the recording of fungi. It began in 1868 when at the initiative of a former president, the illustrious Dr Henry Graves Bull, a meeting advertised as ‘A Foray amongst the Funguses’ was held which is now seen as the archetype of all subsequent fungus forays. Thereby, a movement began that spread rapidly across Britain and the Continent and eventually worldwide that led to the promotion of fungi from obscurity among the lower plants to its modern place as a distinct biological Kingdom, Fungi. Today, the science of mycology encompasses an immense range of applications in most avenues of modern life.
The Herefordshire Fungus Survey Group has been holding fungus forays and actively recording and studying Herefordshire fungi since 1998. The number of species recorded in the County rises every year and at last count in 2020 (depending on the definition of a fungus species) stood in the region of 4,000 species.
Recent Woolhope Club publications: This paperback is still available to purchase in print. For copyright reasons it is not available on the website. Online copies of the Transactions are available to non-members on a rolling ten-year basis by going to the PUBLICATIONS>Transactions on the website Home Page and scrolling down to the required issue. The SEARCH option on the Home Page will find many more fungi entries. Weightman, Jo. 2017 pp 87-90. A selection of notable fungus records. Weightman, Jo. 2017 pp 190-1. ‘Mycology 2017’ Connor, H., Ross, J., & Blackwell, E. 2010. pp.59-94. Henry Graves Bull (1818-1885). Blackwell, E. 2010. pp95-126. Henry Graves Bull, fungologist and father of the fungus foray. Blackwell, E. 1998 pp297-9. Reports on fungi. Blackwell, E. 1997 p133. Reports of fungi. Blackwell, E. 1996 pp597-600. Mycological Celebrations in Hereford: the BMS Centenary 1996. |
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An important new paper by Dr John Edmondson is now available in our digital Transactions Extra format on the Club website. To access the paper, entitled ‘Mary Lloyd Wynne of Coed Coch and Alfred Osten Walker of Colwyn Bay: two little known mycologists from North Wales’ please:
1. Use this link: https://www.woolhopeclub.org.uk/publications/transactions-extra
2. Click on the underlined title of the paper near the top of the page
The paper brings alive the contribution of both mycologists and their role in the network which developed the science in the second half of the 19th century. Leading figures of the day feature throughout, whilst fungi found, and species discovered, are described from various sources. The paper is particularly well illustrated, with photographs of key people, fine paintings of fungi, some by Mary Lloyd Wynne, and an extraordinary cartoon of the ‘Hereford Fungus Festival’ of 1874.
There are frequent connections with the Woolhope Club since the ground-breaking fungus forays, introduced by Dr H. G. Bull, attracted leading mycologists and gave the Club a prominent role. Mary Lloyd Wynne attended several forays in Herefordshire and, in 1880, invited Dr Bull and a Woolhope party to join a remarkable foray at her home, Coed Coch in Denbighshire. The content relating to the Club complements Edward Blackwell's enlightening piece of 2010 - 'Henry Graves Bull, fungologist and father of the Fungus Foray’, TWNFC 58 (2010), pp. 95-126 - from a different perspective.
We are delighted to publish Dr Edmondson’s paper, in time for his address to the 125th anniversary conference of the British Mycological Society on 5 April. Dr Edmondson was formerly head of botany, then science, at Liverpool World Museum, part of National Museums, Liverpool, and is now an honorary research associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A more detailed biography will be published in the 2021 Transactions.