27 November 2016 Exbury Gardens, Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Common Name Crimson Wax Cap Cap Conical to bell shaped, becoming flattened with age, usually with a central bump, surface viscid to slippery, bright red, sometimes with pale areas, often with faint radial lines at the margin, to about 10 cm across Gills Distant, broad, adnate to emarginate, reddish with a yellow margin Stem Dry, fibrous, yellow, orange yellow or orange red, to about 2 cm across and 12 cm high Flesh Pale yellow, fibrous in the stem, white in the stem base Smell Indistinct Taste Indistinct Season Autumn Distribution Rare Habitat Unimproved grassland Spore Print White Microscopic Features Spores ellipsoidal, often constricted, smooth (8.5-11) x (5-6) µm2 Edibility Edible, but should not be collected due to rarity Notes This beautiful fungus is distinguished from most Hygrocybe species by its large size. It could be confused with H. splendidissima, but is separated by its greasy cap, fibrous stem, the presence of some constricted spores, and absence of the smell of honey from drying and dried specimens. 
November 1998 Sussex. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. |