Back on the farm

I took my exercise on a farm in the High Weald today, where I had permission to undertake a survey of the grassland fungi while I was there. 

It was my first time going solo on a serious mycological survey so I thought I'd try out Lukas Large's tip for keeping my collections organised: raffle tickets! It's a neat way of linking photos, field notes and the specimens I collected for further study at home. That's why most of these photos have raffle tickets in.

First field

This field was quite waterlogged after the torrential rain we've had recently. I didn't find much of note, just...

Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica s.l.

• Very clearly going black. 
  

 Cedarwood Waxcap Cuphophyllus russocoriaceus

• Lovely smell!
  

A Dermoloma

The cap on the young one is quite dark — I think it's probably Crazed Cap Dermoloma cuneifolium. But I'll check.

Here's another one starting to look ever-so-slightly crazed (i.e. the cap is breaking up). 

Snowy Waxcap Cuphophyllus virgineusi

• No particular smell

Field 2

I was starting to feel a bit despondent and thinking I should have perhaps gone somewhere else for my waxcap fix when I suddenly spied some orange shapes ahead of me, decorating the sward.

See 'em?

A wide ring of large reddish-orange mushrooms. 

The younger specimens were a deep red.

 While older ones had faded to orange.

This was so exciting I had to have a sit down and consult with the book ('The genus Hygrocybe 2nd edition by David Boertmann). 

Crimson Waxcap Hygrocybe punicea

• viscid cap
• fibrillose stem 
  

As I looked around me, I realised there were more waxcaps here. Many more.

Slimy Waxcap Gliophorus irrigatus

Parrot Waxcap Gliophorus psittacinus

Scarlet Waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea

The odd tiny orange one...

Spangle Waxcap Hygrocybe insipida?

• decurrent gills
• reddish top to the stem
• cap not squamulose
  

Golden Waxcap Hygrocybe chlorophana

• adnexed gills
• viscid cap
  

And this. WHAT IS THIS?! Have I won the tombola? I know what I think it looks like...

... Gliophorus europerplexus ??? !!!

• butterscotch colour
• lubricous (?) cap and stem
  

I shall look into this. We might want to get this one DNA-sequenced.

Field 3

A distinctly lubricous tawny-coloured thing. 

... not sure if that's a totally washed out Parrot Waxcap Gliophorus psittacinus, or something else.

More Crimson Waxcaps Hygrocybe punicea

More Scarlet Waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea

An old Golden Waxcap Hygrocybe chlorophana?

• viscid cap

 

Spangle Waxcap Hygrocybe insipida?

 

More Parrot Waxcap Gliophorus psittacinus

• these were showing only the slightest hint of green, so I think the first thing I found in Field 3 is probably the same: G. psittacinus.
  

A more definite contender for Golden Waxcap Hygrocybe chlorophana?

I'm not super sure about this one. It's a red one! 

Could it be Splendid Waxcap Hygrocybe splendidissima ???

• will check for honey smell when drying
  

Snowy Waxcap Cuphophyllus virgineus

Top field (sheep field)

Cedar Waxcap Cuphophyllus russocoriacea

• had that smell
  

Meadow Waxcap Cuphophyllus pratensis

Snowy Waxcap Cuphophyllus virgineus

• no particular smell

Scarlet Waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea

I make that 11 or 12 species during the day's survey. Not bad! I think that just beats a previous visit in October 2019.

For the record

Date: 19/11/2020

Location: farm near Heathfield [private site]

Waxcaps on Fulking Escarpment

 

I had a tip off that yellow waxcaps were showing on Fulking Escarpment yesterday. So I thought I'd head over there and see for myself.

They were the first mushrooms I spotted — strikingly pure yellow with a conical in shape. 

I noticed the fruit bodies showed no signs of blackening — even the older specimens which were weathered and trampled. I think that must make these Persistent Waxcap Hygrocybe acutoconica.

Nearby, a solitary mushroom stood completely blackened. But I think it must be different to the yellow ones: a Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica s.l.

On the other side of the path, I saw more Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica s.l. popping up through the sward.

It's nice to catch them at this stage, when they're all orange and point-looking.

This patch of Toasted Waxcap Cuphophyllus colemannianus was a good find.

An upturned cap provided a good opportunity to check out the intervenose gills.

Looking down on them, you can see the warm brown tones to the cap.

I wondered if this diminutive thing, with a brownish spot at the centre of the cap, might be Cuphophyllus virgineus var. fuscescens.

Here you can see the decurrent gills that are characteristic of Cuphophyllus.

I passed more Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica s.l. as I headed up the slope. These ones had quite tawny tones.

You can see the gills just starting to blacken, where they've been damaged.

Snowy Waxcaps Cuphophyllus virgineus dotted the slope in various places, looking just like fragments of chalk from a distance.

Here's one up close (no scent that I could discern).

I think this is Meadow Coral Clavulinopsis corniculata. 

Yet more Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica s.l. ...

Then, just as the light started to fade and I thought I should be heading home, I came across some more orange waxcaps — with a different look to them. Flatter caps and adnate gills.

I'm thinking Golden Waxcap Hygrocybe chlorophana for these ones?

Oh I found some earthtongues too but I'm not brave enough to attempt ID on those. Especially as today I was just out for a walk & a look — I didn't collect any specimens.

And a couple of Entolomas? 

 

For the record

Date: 14/11/2020

Location: Fulking Escarpment