One of the largest white agarics you’ll find (the sort that look like the cultivated mushrooms you eat), this likes soils that are rich in nutrients and often appears in fields near nettles.

This mushroom is a tree killer. It will attack the roots and lower stems of most trees in Carmarthenshire, not always fatally, but where it does, you might notice its mycelial threads amongst the dead wood – these look like boot laces.

Have a look for this fungus on trees and shrubs, especially elder. Not only does it look like strangely ear-like, it also feels unnervingly like a human ear.

Boletes like this have pores instead of gills, a feature that really helps to narrow down your search when trying to identify them. Most Boletus species have a mycorrhizal association with trees and so are usually found in woodlands.

An odd blob-like rubbery fungus that grows on oak and beech. It's common in the county and has recently taken a liking to the distinctive new oak fences in Dinefwr Park.

This is one of a range of coral or finger like fungi known as fairy clubs. It’s fairly rare, only growing in unfertilised meadows, lawns and churchyards, and Carmarthenshire is one of best counties in which to find them. This photo doesn't do the fungus justive - it has an amazing violet colour when it newly emerges in autumn.

If you pick this and leave it, it will soon turn into a black goo. It’s one of the few fungi that you might find in towns, especially in waste places and lawns.

If you’re out camping and are having trouble lighting a camp fire, this hard, hemispherical fungus will come in handy. Found mainly on dead ash trees, it will easily take a spark if dry and will burn slowly.

This tiny fungus takes over the grass flower to form an ‘ergot’ which drops to the ground. In spring, fruiting bodies of the Ascomycete Claviceps purpurea develop, releasing spores that re-infect grasses. Ergot poisoning, often of wheat or rye, can not only produce some horrible physical conditions, hysteria and hallucinations, but may be the source of accusations of witchcraft in the Middle Ages.

Look for this bracket fungus on the trunks of deciduous trees, especially beech. It’s easy to write on with the nail of your finger, allowing you, if you want, to leave surprising messages for other fungus spotters.

This is the largest of the earthstar fungi and grows on the leaf litter and detritus of a forest floor. It can be found across the world.

One of the most beautiful of all waxcaps, it is fairly common in Carmarthenshire’s unfertilised pastures but is rare internationally.

Starting out a bright jade-green, this slimey waxcap is transformed by rain and time into a range of many colours – hence its name of ‘parrot’ waxcap.

A rare large red waxcap which smells of honey, this grows on unfertilised pastures.

However hungry or curious you might be, do not even consider eating this small and pretty mushroom. It contains muscarine, which causes salivation, sweating and tears within 30 minutes of eating. Large doses induce abdominal pain, severe nausea, diarrhea, blurred vision and labored breathing. The lilac inocybe often appears next to pathways.

The violet colour of this striking small mushroom can quickly fade. Common in the county, it’s normally found in woodland.

All Lactarius fungi exude of milky sap when their surface is broken, similar to lettuce. It’s normally a good way to distinguish milk-caps from similar looking funnel-caps.

A distinctively large late-summer mushroom, it can often be found growing on sea cliff tops. It might not be there too long as it is often picked as a culinary delicacy. The club-shape top shown in this photo quickly expands into a parasol.

Look for this mushroom along the side of Carmarthenshire’s country lanes. In pastures, it can form fairy rings. There are other quite large funnel shaped white fungi in various genera so you need to look carefully to get a proper identification.

When mature, a hole in the top of this fungus opens up. Thousands of spores shoot out of this hole when the puffball is compressed by a rain-drop, a falling nut or perhaps a human finger. But beware. Some puffball spores have sharp, microscopic spines which can cause severe irritation of the lung.

Very commonly found on clusters on rotting wood throughout the county, this mushroom can be found from North America, North Africa, Europe to Siberia.

Although widely eaten in Eastern Europe, this mushroom has been known to kill. It is a northern  hemisphere species that has been introduced to South America and Australia probably in the soil of introduced European trees. It is mycorrhizal with many tree species and is related to boletus fungi although it has gills not pores.  The spore shape is similar in both.

Beginning as a white ‘egg’ this bizarre woodland fungus gives off a horrible smell. This attracts insects which then disperse the spores which stick to their bodies.

Generations of thrill seekers have eaten this ‘magic mushroom’ for its hallucinogenic properties but since 2005 it is now illegal to possess fresh or dried specimens of this fungus. Common across the county on sheep grazed pastures.

You’ll commonly find this on the leaves of sycamores and maples. Although it can cause premature leaf drop, it’s not known to damage the tree. As with Ergot, the leaves drop to the ground and the fruiting body producing spores develops in spring to re-infect young leaves.

Look out for this distinctive cup-fungus from January to March. There are 2 very similar species that can only be distinguished under the microscope. You could find them on fallen mossy branches across the county. The Oneida Native American tribe, the original New Yorkers, used Sarcoscypha coccinea medicinally, possibly as an antibiotic.

Often confused with puffballs, these fungi are found in woods on sandy soil, alongside forestry tracks or as n this photo, in the car park at Dolaucothi Gold Mine. The outer coverings of scleroderma species are much thicker and less ‘elastic’ than in puffballs.

This wood-rotting fungus is widely used in Japan and China as an immune system boosting agent in the treatment of cancer.

In 1656, Gwenllian David was accused of witchcraft at the Court of Great Sessions in Carmarthen. The evidence was this ‘witches butter’ fungus which grew on her doorpost. A neighbour forced a red-hot knife through it and left it for a fortnight, during which time Gwenllian, it was recorded, ‘lay sicke and cryed to take the knife out of her backe’. Look for it on branches of shrubs, especially gorse.

In the past 10 years, studies at Sheffield University have shown the fascinating link between this, mushroom, the flower yellow birds-nest and willow trees.  This complex association between three unrelated organisms can be seen at the ‘Ashpits’, between Pwll and Burry Port.

Naturally growing in coniferous woods, often on stumps, this mushroom grows wild throughout the northern hemisphere. However, it has been accidentally introduced to Australia and Costa Rica.

This beautiful collection of waxcap fungi was collected on a guided walk on Waun Las National Nature Reserve, part of the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Look out for future guided walks here in the ‘Events’ section.

This can be one of the last fungi to attack rotting wood ,often succeeding honey fungus and sulphur tuft. You might find it in most deciduous woods in the county.