Testing, testing: some yellow waxcaps

Yes! Finally, some rain. So quick post-work jaunt to Henfield churchyard today to look for waxcaps.

White Spindles Clavaria fragilis were back in the same spot I've seen them before.

To the northern side of the church, in a shady corner of the churchyard, I spotted something yellow nestled in the sward.

A waxcap! But which?

The cap felt slightly greasy. Oily?


I thought I could catch the smell of wet laundry. Or was that my jumper?

The gills looked to be emarginate.


Nearby, I found some more around the same size, but getting rather old.

This fruit body had a slight salmon hue to the gills (not shown brilliantly in this photo, in artificial light)...

Using the waxcap ID tool and referring to Boertmann's description, I think these waxcaps are Oily Waxcap Hygrocybe quieta.

Once I'd stopped in this corner of the churchyard, I saw I was surrounded by more waxcaps. Glossy, diminutive yellow-orange things.

I was struck by their radially striate caps and translucent centre.

The glossy caps felt viscid: slightly tacky to touch. The slender stem was also lubricous to viscid.

The gills were shortly decurrent.

I've been all round the houses with this one (there are a lot of little yellow waxcaps!) but the viscid character and striate cap is leading me towards Glutinous Waxcap Hygrocybe glutinipes var. glutinipes.

Finally, a small white mushroom with decurrent gills. The size made me think Cuphophyllus. virginea, but the dry cap and stature seemed more like C. pratensis var. pallida.

Boertmann notes that spore size is a good separating character between these white Cuphophyllus species.

Spores mounted in water. 1000x magnification.

The spores from my collection are all subglobose and around 5 x 4.5 microns in size. I think this means I've got Pale Waxcap Cuphophyllus pratensis var. pallida.

Must get a new microscope camera. This one's intolerably scuzzed up!

For the record
Date: 24/09/2019
Location: Henfield churchyard, West Sussex