Country diary: Something complicated in the tangled grass | Ed Douglas

Blacka Moor, South Yorkshire: With its antler-like structure and aniseed whiff, this exquisite fungus, called meadow coral, is luxuriating in all its strangenessLate November's weather provided a barnstorming performance. Temperatures plunged but were then wrenched into a steep climb. Gales flipped everything over before the nosedive into frost began again. Into December and a morning of half-hearted drizzle and still but warmer air seemed exceptional. Low cloud settled on the purplish crowns of birches; the bronze moor muted with dampness. A sudden crackling exchange between two jays simply emphasised how quiet it was. "A vacant sameness grays the sky," as Thomas Hardy put it. Nothing to see here.Except, of course, there was. In the blunted light, something complicated and yellowy orange was reaching out from the tangled grass at my feet. This was meadow coral, its Latin name, corniculata, catching nicely the antler-like structures of this exquisite fungus. Although not rare, the unimproved grassland it thrives on is rare these days. This piece of rough pasture is nibbled enough for the coral to show off its complex potential. In longer grass, its branches tend to stretch and become simpler. Here, it could luxuriate in all its strangeness, like one of Mondrian's chrysanthemums, except with horns, like those of the red deer that often browse in the neighbouring woodland. Continue reading...