Chicken

This morning, Malcolm and I were joined on our walk by the ever lovely Jayne. As we strolled through the woods which surround Mapperley Reservoir, our attention was caught by a large fungus, growing on a dead tree stump.

Among the green of the woodland, this bright orange and yellow growth looked like scrambled egg or as Malcolm observed, melted wax. Whatever it was, it was new to us, so a search on line was needed to identify it.

After a short internet search, it turns out be called Laetiporus sulphureus or Chicken-of-the-Woods - less commonly, Sulphur Shelf. A Polypore fungus, it has no stem or cap like many fungi, but is considered to be fairly common in the UK, USA and most of Europe.

Edible when young - as this specimen is - it is supposed to taste of chicken (hence the name) but needs to be cooked and only eaten if a clear liquid can be extracted from it. It is also popular with various deer species.

So, a nice walk with good company this morning and a new 'tick' for the life list too. Not bad for one day!