Fly Agaric

This posting had to sit around a while, until I had some slide film developed for the pictures – more on that anon.

A few miles away, there is a small arboretum on the fringe of the picturesque village of Nuneham Courtney (villages are one of Oxfordshire's strong points). Nuneham comprises a street of pretty worker's cottages dating from when estate owners thought it cute to prettify their estates with such developments and before they became too venal or impecunious so to do. The estate itself was shaped by Capability Brown, if that is your kind of thing.

The Harcourt Arboretum is also part of that original estate and now belongs to Oxford University. It is a pleasant and spacious contrast to the University's Botanic Gardens. Access by foot or bike is free, but they charge for car parking. It's well worth a couple of quid, particularly in November. Look up and you will see towering trees, many oaks in particular. Look on the horizontal and you will see colourful acers, rich in red and yellow fading leaves.

But we happened to look down, not a direction famous for its trees, I'll admit, and the reward was indeed not arboreal, but fungal – the dangerous fly ageric, one of our more poisonous species. Like so many such things, it is beautiful and alluring. There were just a couple of them, skulking away in the shade and we tried to not draw attention to them while we photographed them as the arboretum is a popular haunt for mothers with their small children. The web tells me that eating it is only likely to kill folk with heart problems, unlike a couple of the other species that will kill anyone over a period of a few painful days. Anyway, Agaric's warning colours are enough to keep any sensible adult away, but what a striking surprise in the undergrowth!