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Weeds & Wildflowers

Stories of Dennett (Wildflower) & Ben (Weed) & Our Guests

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The fascinating world of fungi

3 min readNov 15, 2022

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Oyster mushroom growing in ancient woodland, Dorset, UK. Photo: ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

I recently took the long journey back from my home in Cape Town to visit family in England. It was my first English autumn in many years, which I spent in rural Dorset.

It was a fleeting trip, leaving the howling southeaster winds of early summer in the Cape for cool crisp weather and the intense yellows, oranges and reds of the English autumn leaves.

Ancient woodlands of Dorset, England. Photo: ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

There are many ancient woodlands in Dorset, with the reward of wandering in their shade between vistas looking out across the rolling green hills of the surrounding landscapes.

Sheep graze in the fields and those who are more observant may be lucky enough to spot herds of deer or the less commonly seen European Hare, which can be seen along the hedgerows and woodland margins.

Big skies and rolling arable landscapes of rural Dorset, England. Photo: ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

The autumn Westcountry weather is changeable with sudden squalls of rain and sunshine between the showers. We packed our morning coffee and headed for the…

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Weeds & Wildflowers
Weeds & Wildflowers

Published in Weeds & Wildflowers

Stories of Dennett (Wildflower) & Ben (Weed) & Our Guests

Zoë Poulsen
Zoë Poulsen

Written by Zoë Poulsen

Botanist, writer, editor and restoration ecologist based in Cape Town at the heart of South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region. https://www.capetownbotanist.com