Surely one of the commonest, most widespread New Forest fungi, Sulphur Tuft grows in conspicuous clusters on the stumps, dead branches and buried roots of both broad-leaved and coniferous trees.
It is nominally an all-the-year-round fungus, but most fruiting bodies are seen in autumn.
Individual Sulphur Tuft caps can reach 7 or 8 centimetres across, are convex in shape and often have a low central hump. Colour is fairly bright sulphur-yellow, darkening towards the centre.
Stems, of broadly similar colour to the cap, can reach a height of 10 centimetres and are often noticeably curved. Gills, too, are initially sulphur-yellow in colour, before becoming greenish and finally darkening to brown.
Sulphur Tuft is not edible.
Warning: refer to a good, comprehensive fungus field guide to confirm identification, and only eat those species known without any doubt whatsoever to be edible - people have died after eating certain poisonous specimens.
References:
Mushrooms and other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe - Roger Phillips
The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe - Marcel Bon
Fungi of Britain and Europe - Stefan Buczacki and John Wilkinson
The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools - Giovanni Pacioni
Fungi of the New Forest: A Mycota - Edited by Gordon Dickson and Ann Leonard
A Passion for Mushrooms - Antonio Carluccio
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