this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
48 points (100.0% liked)

UK Nature and Environment

390 readers
101 users here now

General Instance Rules:

Community Specific Rules:

Note: Our temporary logo is from The Wildlife Trusts. We are not officially associated with them.

Our autumn banner is a shot of maple leaves by Hossenfeffer.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

A rare and protected fungus has been found at a nature reserve in Canterbury.

The Hericium erinaceus, or lion's mane fungus, has the highest level of legal protection in the UK due to its scarcity. Kent Wildlife Trust said it had been spotted by a visitor.

It is illegal in the UK to collect, uproot or destroy the fungus and anyone doing so could face six months in prison or a £5,000 fine.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] elekitty@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

interesting, pretty sure I can get this to eat at most vegetarian places where I live... 🤔

[–] GreyShuck 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They are certainly edible and are considered to have a range of health benefits - but the commercially available ones will be farmed or collected elsewhere than in the UK. Even if anyone did feel like foraging for them in the UK - which would be illegal, of course - given how rare they are, there's no way it would be commercially viable.

[–] elekitty@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's a pretty common ingredient for vegetarian food; I'm just surprised that could be considered "rare and protected" in some other parts of the world.

That thought just never crossed my mind, like if wild chickens were rare and protected, you know😀