|  As
I waited for the start of a meeting, I drew this fungus which was growing
from a shrub bed outside Greenhead College, Huddersfield. The cap was
emerging from a twiggy mulch that had been put over the bed. Cleavers,
a scrambling weed with tiny hooks on its stems and leaves, was growing
alongside it.
I think that it is Lepiota rhacodes var. hortensis,
a variety of the Shaggy Parasol. As the name suggests,
it is found in rich garden soil and on compost heaps from summer to autumn.
It's said to be edible and pleasant, although this specimen was far too
nibbled and shrivelled to be attractive but some people are allergic to
it and it can cause gastric problems.
 There's
something in a flower bed nearby that is interesting a large rat,
which runs away as we see it. Michael Brook of the Yorkshire Wildlife
Trust, who has just turned up for the meeting suggests that it might be
finding pieces of bonemeal in the bed which has just been planted out
with summer bedding. 
Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk
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