... which, once more, sees us linking up with our sister hobby, philately, and joining Royal Mail to celebrate "the dazzling diversity of Britain's mushrooms". And the stamps will be in your post office on the 3rd of July.
The stamps are the square format, and include both first and second class - the first class showing Amethyst Deceiver, Collared Earthstar, Fly Agaric, Penny Bun, and Turkey Tail - and the second class displaying Chicken of the Woods. Clustered Bonnet, Morel, Scarlet Elf Cup, and Scarlet Waxcap. .
Our celebration of clue cards linked more common mushrooms, and started with :
Clue one : Saturday 28th of June
W. A. & A. C. Churchman [tobacco : UK] "Sporting Trophies" - large size (May 1927)
This clue was simply to a cup, which can be open cup, showing the gills if you turn the mushroom bottoms up, or closed cup, which are also known as "button" mushrooms. There are also many mushrooms which are proper cups, including the Scarlet Elf Cup, one of the second class stamps amidst this issue.
Clue two :
Sunday 29th of June
Typhoo [trade : tea : UK] "Trees of the Countryside" (1937) 7/25
This card brings us "chestnut" - and chestnut mushrooms are the same as white mushrooms, apart from the colour, which has a brownish tinge. However they are getting more and more popular with growers as they do not need such a high temperature - and that not only saves on fuel bills but means that as our winters continue to get warmer they could extend our growing and consuming season. They are also more highly flavoured, and contain slightly more Vitamin D than other mushrooms, though all contain some.
and lastly, came
Clue three :
Monday 30th of June
Liebig [trade : meat extract : O/S - South America] "Animaux sauvages du Congo" (1937)
This clue could have just stood for `wild` mushrooms, as `Sauvages`, contrary to popular belief, does not mean savage, it just means wild.
However there is a mushroom called Hericium erinaceus, or lion's mane, and a very strange one it is too. It does grow in the British Isles but it is illegal to uproot or even take parts of it. The reason for this is that it has medicinal qualities, especially in Chinese medicine, where it is known as the yamabushitake.
On which note, if anyone else would like to send us any information from their collection which relates in any way to our theme of the week, or themes we have covered in the past, please do.The e-mail is webmaster@card-world.co.uk - and this is the same for any corrections, or for general cartophilic correspondence and chat.