Toshiaght Gheuree – the start of winter! You would think that all the flowers would have set seed and gone by now but nothing could be further from the truth, I am sure there are still Red campion – Blaa ny ferrishyn in bloom and Devil’s bit scabious – Greim y Jouyll with its tall purple pom pom flowers are also to be seen.  A number of flowers seem to hang on in sheltered pockets, Gorse – Aittyn is another that can be found in bloom somewhere all year round, hence the saying ‘ Kissing is in vogue while the gorse is in flower’.  The bindweeds are still out now and they have these wonderful trumpets like the HMV record label.  The big white one Greater bindweed – Lillee hallooin and the Field bindweed – Lus y lheaney this is pink with white stripes.

The back end is the main fungi season and everywhere you go there are fungi of various size, shapes and colours to be seen.  The Mushroom – Shalmane is the one that most people would think of first. In the fields and woodlands there are many interesting and unusual ones.  The Fairy lugs or Jew’s ear fungus, this normally grows on the Tramman (Elder tree) and resembles small brown ears.  The story goes that the Little People – Yn  Mooinjey Veggey being nosey would leave their ears above ground on the tree, (they lived under the Tramman), to hear what was going on above.  One of George Quayle’s stories that you can relate to children is that the small dry, crisp Fairy lug fungus is in fact a Fairy’s ear, and to prove it, the fungus is placed in a glass of water.  After a short time it will have swollen to more than twice its size and will be soft and very ear like.

Fly agaric, the red one with white spots, these are usually in story books with a fairy on top, are about now, the Giant puff ball – Cabbyl mooyn can be spotted from afar in the fields due to its size. There is another fairly large common white fungus that has small scales or friggins, ( friggins are the bits of annoying skin that start to lift alongside your finger nail that you have to bite off), on the top.  Shortly after it opens out the gills underneath start to melt and drip making a black inky mess, this is the Shaggy inkcap or one of the inkcap family of fungi. Being allergic to mushrooms and not being an expert on fungi, I wouldn’t eat any without prior advice from someone who knows their edible from the poisonous ones.  Because of my interest in plants I am regularly asked about fungi and whether I know which are the ones that you can eat. I have a little saying regarding this that usually gets a laugh, I say that all fungi are edible, but some only once!! 

There are berries and fruit galore on the trees and bushes at present including, Skegs (Hawthorn berries) – Skeag, Rose hips – Bugogne drughag, Rowan berries – keirnyn,  and Elderberries – Berrish hrammanagh, Holly – Cullyn and shrubs like Cotoneaster – Drine Bretnagh. Shortly the winter migrants, Fieldfares – Dreeym gorrym and Redwings – Jiargyn sniaghtee together with all the indigenous thrushes – Threshlyn, Song thrush – Mistle thrush and Black bird will be having their fill.  

John Dog