Members of the Ackworth School Natural History Society carried out a fungal foray in the school grounds this evening.
Honey Fungus
They found a number of species but one large clump stood out from the others. We often get clumps of fairly stocky toadstools on tree-stumps in the school grounds but these usually have numerous flecks on their caps and I think that they are of the genus Pholiota. The toadstools found today had smooth off-yellow caps and they had a distinctive yellow ring around each stem. I believe that these are the dreaded honey fungus (Armillaria mellea), a species that can kill shrubs and trees.