Rare and Highly Protected Mushroom Found in Southern England Nature Reserve

Hedgehog fungus, a rare species of mushroom, was discovered in the south of England, on a reserve in Canterbury.

A rare mushroom discovered in a nature reserve

An individual ofHericium erinaceus, was spotted in a nature reserve in Canterbury, southern England. Hedgehog hydne, in French, is a rare species of mushroom. About the size of a football, it is covered with spines, which look like filaments, of white color which make it soft in texture. It grows attached to the trunk of trees, and eventually decomposes its wood.

It is a mushroom that is eaten when young because of its many medicinal properties, particularly to relieve chronic stomach diseases. It can be found mainly in East Asian countries such as China, Korea or Japan, where it is one of the ten most cultivated mushrooms on the continent. However, it can be seen in North and Central America, Turkey and even Russia.

A highly protected species of mushroom

L'Hericium erinaceus enjoys the highest level of legal protection in the UK, is so bad that it is illegal to destroy, uproot or even harvest it under penalty of risking six months in prison or paying a £5,000 fine .

The Kent Wildlife Trust, the UK's leading conservation charity, takes this protective role very seriously as they have indicated that they will not disclose the exact location or name of the reserve in which it is located. this species which “ will play a vital role in the forest ecosystem, breaking down the wood it grows on to create nutrients for other organisms.”

Hedgehog hydne joins rare mushrooms spotted in England

The discovery of a species of rare mushroom like the hedgehog hydne is not the first time that this has happened in the Anglo-Saxon country. Indeed, many other species of equally rare mushrooms have been seen in recent years.

For example, there is Neobulgaria pura, a species that belongs to the Bulgariaceae family. It can be found in Europe and North America, and is distinguished by its translucent pink color and gelatinous texture. There is also the Candida auris, a rare species which infected around 200 people in the United Kingdom in 2017.

Source: BBC