Fab fungi create a show at National Trust for Scotland (NTS) Inverewe Garden site in Wester Ross

Inverewe Garden is experiencing a bumper crop of mushrooms and toadstools all around the 2000-acre heritage estate in Wester Ross.

The fungi boom boasts variety as well as quantity – over 70 species have been identified and that number is predicted to rise with the display expected to continue well into next month at the site cared for by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

Local resident Professor John Hedger has been helping the trust identify and record the remarkable volume and range of fungi which the garden has fostered this year – though it turns out there is at least as much going on below ground as above it, at least as far as the relationship between the fungi and surrounding trees is concerned.

“In recent years it has been realised that the relationship is much more complex than we thought and has given rise to the concept of the ‘Wood Wide Web’ in which the fungi in the soil provide a connection between trees, for example with mother trees supporting seedlings via inter-connecting fungi,” Professor Hedger said.

“Some have even proposed a type of consciousness for groups of trees, with the fungi acting like ‘neurones’ in a collective brain made of plant and fungus which can pass messages about environmental changes between tree species.”

Martin Hughes, the trust’s operations manager for Inverewe Garden and Corrieshalloch Gorge, said: “Our grateful thanks go to Professor Hedger for his ongoing support and for generously sharing his knowledge. It’s rewarding to know that the trust’s care of Inverewe, through its team of dedicated gardeners, is helping to support such a great range of fungi which play a
vital role in the balance of ecosystems.”

To read more about the fungi, and for further information on Inverewe Gardens, go to www.nts.org.uk/stories/fascinating-fungi-at-inverewe

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