With all the fungi sprouting around the country this mild winter season, one activity that could help promote the young mycological mind is the practice of making a spore print.
It’s easy to do, and can produce some very beautiful results.
Just pick a wild mushroom, maybe use a rubber glove, cut the stem and place the cap of the mushroom on a piece of white or coloured paper, gills downward. Leave like that for 24 hrs. Then when you look at the spore print left on the paper - it will be a unique pattern to the species of mushroom.
It can be a bit of fun and also can inspire youngsters to think about the wonderful world of fungi all around them.
A spore print can also aid identification of the specimen in question. Keep the stem too for i.d. purposes, and also a note of location found.
