How England’s Fungi Are Faring in 2025

If you’ve been out exploring the countryside this Autumn, you’ve probably noticed an incredible array of mushrooms and fungi sprouting from the ground. 

To find out how England’s fungi are faring this year, we spoke to mycologist Andy Knott of Jurassic Coast Mushrooms. Andy regularly leads popular fungi walks for the Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) at Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset and just carried out one last week at the farm.

There is talk that it has been a landmark year for fungi. Is this the case? 

“It has definitely been a good year for some fungi. However, several fungi have not popped up that I would expect to see due to the dry, hot, summer. For example, I have not seen a lot of grassland species as the grass is so dry. 

“But some fungi have fruited a lot better and had a great year, such as honey fungus. This is a parasitic mushroom, a type of fungus that harms and derives nourishment from a living host. It’s all part of the circle of life, but when you get that hot year and trees and shrubs are stressed, it means they are more susceptible to these opportunistic, parasitic fungi. 

“But a lot of fungi, like porcinis, or penny buns, have had an incredible year. I’ve never seen quite so many in all my years. They are mycorrhizal and they are the ones that have a symbiotic relationship with trees. They don’t grow parasitically or saprophytically (feeding on dead plant material). They grow on the ground and have a relationship with the trees where they are finding extra water for the trees and, in return, the trees give the mushrooms carbohydrates, giving them energy. So, my theory is that the mycorrhizal network underground has been gathering more water for the trees and, in exchange, the trees have been giving the mushrooms more energy. They live symbiotically; it is a mutualistic relationship."

Can you explain more about the mycorrhizal underground network? 

“This explains how the mushrooms work underground, rather than the fruiting body above ground. People compare it to the world wide web, like a forest web of communicating. For mushrooms that are mycorrhizal, they have tiny, white, little threads called hyphae, tiny hollow tubes, and this is how the mushroom underground searches, hunts, feeds and spreads. They are breaking down old, dead, and decaying wood.” 

On your latest walk at Bere Marsh Farm, you spotted the Rare candelabra coral again. After last year’s excitement of the initial find, would you expect to see this at Bere Marsh year-on-year? 

“It’s still exciting to see it for me and everyone on the walk who saw it was really pleased. It’s in a field but growing on a piece of well-rotted wood. It wasn’t as good as last year, as it was much smaller and was quite dry but if we’d had an even drier summer, we may not have seen that fruit. It’s down to climate and microclimates.  
 
“It is on such a rotten piece of wood that it won’t be long before it doesn’t appear any more. The suitable substrate won’t be there for it to grow but that’s why we are trying to clone it so that we can potentially look at reintroducing  it. The fact you have it there and nearby lots of wood left to rot; it stands the best chance as Bere Marsh is creating a suitable habitat for it to reappear.” 

Rare candelabra coral

How has this year’s weather affected fungal growth across the UK? 

“The weather has been what it’s been. We can’t control it and the changes in fungi reflect the changing weather patterns.  Something else I have spotted lots more of this year is called Favolaschia, the orange pore fungus. That is native to Madagascar, and it first appeared in Cornwall in 2012, The theory is that the spores are floating all over the place but where our climate is starting to warm a little, now the habitat is more suited to that species of fungi. It’s a really pretty mushroom but it is obviously invasive. Every year we have seen it spread across the south coast. I found it in Dorset a few years ago and the New Forest, while someone else found it in Sussex. I think this all reflects where things are warming up and these tropical species are appearing.” 

Fungi walk at Bere Marsh Farm

Andy Knott leading a walk at Bere Marsh Farm

Fungi Foray at Bere Marsh Farm led by Andy Knott of Jurassic Coast Mushrooms

What’s your advice for beginners who want to learn more about identifying fungi responsibly? 

“There definitely is a lot of edible species around. I always say, ‘never munch on a hunch’. We’ve been seeing people becoming exclusively reliant on their phones and apps to identify fungi and, unfortunately ,people have been poisoning themselves, fortunately not severely, but they have been relying on their phones. They just take it as gospel. AI is okay, but it is not perfect at identifying mushrooms.

“I always say that apps are good to point you in the right direction, but use that information to check a second or third source. Refer back to a book or join a Facebook group and post your photos on there and ask if you’ve found what your phone is suggesting. 
 
“Go and join a walk with a local expert. Look at the Association of Foragers, where there is a directory which tells you all the different foraging guides, dotted all around the country. Find someone local and learn from them. Just get out there really.” 

How are changes in farming practices affecting fungi? 
 
“It’s really hard to quantify and I don’t know of any studies but, anecdotally, so many people I speak to on walks, particularly older generations, will say when they were a child and they went across the field, there used to be dozens and dozens of mushrooms the size of dinner plates. They would get sick of mushrooms, such as big horse mushrooms and giant puff balls, but they just don’t see that now.  

“Certainly, when we are spraying herbicides, pesticides and fungicides to control pests so we get good crops, it will have a detrimental effect to fungal organisms. 

How can people help? 
 
“We have this thing for perfectly manicured lawns, but when it’s very hot, it just exposes the ground. If you trim all your grass and keep your lawn pruned to an inch of its life, you are very unlikely to see mushrooms. If you leave it and have humid pockets in the grass, you’ll see mushrooms appear.” 

If you are interested in finding out more about fungi and going for a walk with an expert, keep an eye on the CRT’s events page at https://www.thecrt.co.uk/events and also see Jurassic Coast Mushrooms at www.jurassiccoastmushrooms.com/pages/festivals-events