Thursday 9th October
A saunter along the River Wharfe at Hebden in the Yorkshire Dales today peaked my interest by the way of some fine fungal specimens. On the trunk of an old, monolithed horse chestnut, were some very imposing bracket fungi on display - the dryad's saddle. A mushroom with pores instead of gills gives it the scientific name of Cerioporus squamosus and this is a common sight throughout the year. A quick rub of the underside pores reveals a pungent cucumber like aroma and that along with the radial, scaly patterns on the upper side resembling the feathers of female pheasant, ensures that you can't really go wrong with identification here. In European folklore they are used as a perch by the tree nymphs or dryads of the forest. If picked while still small, they are particularly tasty too and are packed full of antioxidants. This was one of the finest examples that I have come across this year.
