I cannot pass into winter without a comment on the fruitfulness of this extraordinary autumn. The last day of October achieves the warmth of what once was considered a summer temperature in Britain. The acorns are so thick that a centime cannot be placed on the ground between them. In the garden, flowers of Forsythia vie with the leaves of the same plant and the laurier and roses are plentifully blossomed, and the mesembryanthemums are carpeted with flowers. It is all so beautifully wrong!

The same tale is told amongst the toadstools. I have this autumn seen species never seen by me before. Again and again the books say 'rare' and there it is. In places in the woods I could not tread without stepping on some toadstool. The cepes have been prolific in our oak woodlands. They have finished fruiting by mid September but then there came the Caesar's mushroom. There were not in great number but they were new to me. This was the mushroom most prized by the Romans. It is usually not common, even in Italy, but this year we have seen the TV cooks displaying large baskets of them. Antonio Carluccio the Italian restauranteur states that 'because of its demand as a delicacy the price can easily reach £50 a kilo'. I devoured a few £s this year. It has a delicate nutty taste and is superior to the cepe. I quickly state my own personal view that no mushroom is worth the sums sought in the market. I am always irritated by the question put to me when I am exposing the structural and biological refinements of a fungal specimen 'Can you eat it?'. My reply, ever urbane, is 'You can eat any toadstool once!'

Caesar's mushroom is closely related to the Fly Agaric or Tue Mouche , that brilliant red toadstool with white flakes on it which children's illustrators particularly seem to delight in portraying! It is one of the most hallucinogenic toadstools. Extraordinary that this delicacy is so like it. It is the only safely edible amanita. All amanitas are recognised by the white 'volva' cup at the base and the ring on the stem, with the spores white on the gills. Caesar's mushroom is orange on the cap. But, remarkably and distinctively, the gills and stem are bright yellow. The texture is quite firm . However unusual they were for me, some of our French friends know it. My first acquaintance with it was on a ramble, when one elderly French lady saw the shining orange 'eggs' beneath an oak tree and immediately collected them for the pot. L'orange! she cried, almost like a battle cry. What is it about mushrooms which brings out this enthusiasm?

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