Everything growing is a post-it note left there as a hint to the bigger picture.
Waxcaps: You are on undisturbed land
The fungi of a dozen colours, family Waxcap is bright, obvious, and sensitive. They thrive in old mossy grasslands and churchyard edges that haven’t been ploughed, fertilised or otherwise harmed. If disturbed, they might not return to a site within a human lifetime. If watched, they tell their stories. Blackening waxcap begins with a glow of gold.
Before turning dark, spreading its spores back to the earth.
Wall barley: You are on disturbed land
Thriving on the opposite, this grass and its extraordinary bristles (properly known as ‘awns’) like roughed-up areas. It often appears on urban road verges and cracks in pavements. It is related to the barley species grown on farms.
Stinging nettle: You are on nutrient-rich ground.
That may sound like a good thing, but most of those nutrients will be run-off from agriculture or be leaking from old iron fences. Too many nettles equals an environmental question-mark. They are also fierce to the touch, as most rural children know. But they have been used by many cultures for various things, from medicine to textiles.
Mist: You are in November-land.
It is autumn, and that grows mist. And it is beautiful.
A Walk with Wildlife 
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