The message
from Joe Bloggs contains these words:

Just his last week I've seen in both my own and a friend's garden a
nasty mushroom/fungus - about 4" across - that has a stalk but looks
like brains or tripe. Fairly gross anyway. Anyone recognise it from my
description ?

I'm always in a dilemma about fungus. Do you leave them be ? Dig them in
? Remove and compost ? Remove and bin ?

Anyone out there with expertise in these matters ?

Like brains, i.e., rounded and sinuous folds, it sounds like a false
morel, Gyromytra esculenta. Despite its specific name, do not be tempted
to eat it. Raw, it is deadly, and even cooked its remaining poison(s)
is/are believed to be cumulative.

Like tripe, i.e., a bit like a sponge on a stalk, it sounds like a morel
- several varieties exist, and are good to eat. Excellent, in fact.

I suggest you go the the library and take out Mushrooms and other Fungi
of the British Isles by Roger Phillips. (ISBN 0-330-26441-9)

If you find it is the latter, feel very lucky, and leave them. Was there
ever a fire where they grow?

--
Tony
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