Economists estimate extreme poverty could be drastically reduced for a fraction of global defence spending, yet military budgets continue to expand year on year, says JON TRICKETT MP, ahead of the Stop the War International Conference on Saturday
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Stinkhorns and reindeer pee
PETER FROST takes a look at the mysterious world of fungi – from fairy rings to curious ways of getting high
The anemone stinkhorn
[Mike Young / Creative Commons]
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THERE are roughly 15,000 species of fungi growing wild in Britain. You can find fairy rings, penny buns, stinkhorns, white false deathcaps, lurid boletes, horns of plenty, freckled dapperlings, terracotta hedgehogs, deceivers, curry-scented milkcaps, lilac bonnets, jelly tongues, charcoal burners, plums and custard, bonfire cauliflowers or simply sickeners.
When it comes to great names it is hard to beat the common puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum), whose Latin name translates as shiny wolf farts.
Some fungi are delicious but many more are deadly poisonous. That is one reason you should think hard before you venture out into woods and forests to pick wild mushrooms.
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