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The latter are because they were once used to stupefy flies. They were ground to a paste and mixed with milk in a saucer on the window sill. The got drowsy and then drowned in the liquid.

The fungus contained an hallucinogenic agent which had previously been blended with beer and imbibed by the before these suicidal warriors charged, axe-wielding into the ranks of their enemies.

I also found no less than six , probably more than I've seen in my lifetime, a lifetime not compromised by eating any of these rare and deadly toadstools.

It's a shame that for many people the reputation of this perilous artefact of nature is enough to stifle any interest in fungi. The fear of their presumed toxicity means that they are given a wide berth from a young age. An eminent mycologist once told me that a mere 1% of the UK species are poisonous, 1% are edible and that the remaining 98% are also edible (but don't taste good). Hardly statistical grounds to justify a fear of fungi.

But then there are plenty who, once properly educated, actively exploit that other 1% and descend on the autumnal forest in a ruthless horde to harvest the edibles. Spurred on by the likes of the enigmatic and an increased interest in fine dining, they enjoy the great range of flavours that can be found for free in the woods and fields.

There is, however, a cost to this. These are the 'flowers' of the fungi, the organs which release the 'seeds' in spore form. If they are over-collected might this not have a negative impact on the future population of these species?

Well, perhaps it's a familiar story in human harvesting, in that it's all down to degree. A little local collecting to spice up the menu is likely to have no impact but when, as has happened, it becomes commercialised then surely we must have concerns. And commercial it is these days. Vans full of pickers arrive in the famed or richest areas and clear them out throughout the season.

Worse, often only one person knows which are the target species and the 'team' are instructed to 'clean-up' everything so that he/she can sort it later. The result is huge piles of inedible or fungi with little financial value found rotting on the roadside. An atrocious waste, an ugly by-product of human greed.

This greed is motivated by the rich returns to be had from successful forays. Such are the prices paid for these culinary gems. In some places guidelines or bylaws state that collecting is allowed but only for personal consumption. Recently in one such spot a woman was found with bin bags and boxes filled with 65 kilos of fungi... So that's a big meal then.

Some elementary research has been conducted. It actually seemed to show that such harvesting has no impact on fungal population densities. But I cannot believe that sustained, constant collecting will not have an effect on future abundance. Nature can only afford to produce what it needs; it never tolerates wastage, so it wouldn't produce all these toadstools if they were not actually needed.

For my part, I picked not a single thing this year. Instead I enjoyed watching big, fat, ripe, edible species get naturally nibbled by molluscs and mice and then turn to jelly after productively casting their spores on the wind.