For Fungi Friday, here’s a selection of the colourful waxcap and russula fungi I’ve discovered during recent local meanders. Enjoy!
A kaleidoscope of colourful fungi
04 Friday Nov 2022
Tag Archives: waxcaps
Cemetery fungi
12 Friday Nov 2021
Tags
boletes, British fungi, cemetery fungi, Cortinarius, earthtongues, entoloma fungi, fungi at the cemetery, waxcaps
In recent weeks I’ve paid several visits to Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery so today I thought I’d share a selection of some of the glorious fungi I’ve seen, including various species of bolete, entoloma and cortinarius, as well as waxcaps and earthtongues.
Persistent waxcaps
27 Friday Aug 2021
Posted in fungi
I used to love finding waxcaps in the grounds of my local cemetery when I lived in Cardiff but hardly see any in my current area. So, it was a delight to spot these Persistent waxcaps (Hygrocybe acutoconica) in one of the paddocks at Cosmeston earlier this week.
Their caps range in shade from yellow to orange and, though initially moist like most waxcaps, they soon dry out and often crack as they expand, especially when growing in an exposed location. The caps start off conical (hence the epithet acutoconica), which means these fungi can sometimes be confused with other species like the Blackening waxcap (Hygrocybe conica), but these Persistent caps don’t blacken.
The gills and stem of this fungus also range in colour from yellow to orange, and the stem sometimes looks grooved and fibrous.
Persistent waxcaps are most often found in unfertilised grasslands, particularly on calcareous soils, and can also pop up on sandy soils and even amongst sand dunes.
287/365 Hygrocybe, but which
14 Monday Oct 2019
Waxcaps are my favourite fungi but they can be difficult to identify. Sometimes the colour helps, but there are several species of a reddish-orange hue. As these have quite a coarse upper surface on the caps, I thought at first that they might be Fibrous waxcaps (Hygrocybe intermedia) but, as these were at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, I’m wondering if they might be Hygrocybe calciphilia, which are smaller and grow on calcareous grassland. I really need to check their features more thoroughly in future. What I do know for sure is how lovely they are!
278/365 Happy National Fungi Day!
05 Saturday Oct 2019
Tags
#NationalFungiDay, bracket fungi, British fungi, Candlesnuff, fungus, National Fungi Day, oysterling fungi, Stump puffballs, Sulphur tuft, waxcaps
As today was National Fungi Day in Britain and we’ve had good quantities of the rain needed to stimulate fungal growth, I caught the train in to Cardiff today for a fungi foray around Heath Park and the new part of Cathays Cemetery. Here are some of the fungi I found …
Wild Christmas, day 3
27 Thursday Dec 2018
Tags
bracket fungus, Cathays Cemetery, Clitocybe fungi, club fungus, coral fungus, earthstar, fungi foray, fungus, inkcap, mushroom, Redlead roundhead, waxcaps
I’m currently taking part in the local Wildlife Trusts’ #7DaysofWildChristmas challenge. This ‘is a week-long challenge to do one wild thing a day from the 25th to the 31st of December’. For me a challenge like this is easy peasy ’cause I try to live my whole life as one long wild challenge but I like to support these initiatives to help to inspire other people to put more Nature and wildness in their lives. Believe me, in a world as crazy as ours currently is, you will feel better for it.
For today’s challenge I spent about four hours at Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery, hunting for fungi to photograph (not forage) in both the old and new sections of the cemetery. I figured that, after all the rain we’ve had recently, I should be able to find one or two nice things. I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s waxcap time!
10 Friday Nov 2017
Look what I found hiding in the grass at Cathays Cemetery during a recent walk around: gorgeous fungal gems!
The Witches’ Hats
16 Sunday Oct 2016
Tags
Blakcening waxcap, Cathays Cemetery, Hygrocybe, Hygrocybe conica, waxcap fungi, waxcaps, Witch's Hat, Witches' Hats
I make no apology for the fact that you will be seeing increasing numbers of fungi on this blog in the coming months. For me, they provide the cheery colours and intriguing shapes in the landscape after the glory of the wildflowers has faded and, even if you don’t particularly like fungi, there will be pretty pictures to peruse.
The Blackening waxcaps (scientific name Hygrocybe conica) have been some of the first to appear in my local waxcap hotspot, Cathays Cemetery. The fact that its 110-acre grounds have remained largely undisturbed since the cemetery closed to new burials about 35 years ago means its grassy spaces are ideal for waxcaps, as the hygrocybe species are sensitive both to pollution and to agricultural chemicals.
Blackening waxcaps start life in a variety of colours, from yellow and orange through to red – sometimes all those shades in just one little mushroom – then, as they age, they blacken, eventually turning jet black. As you might guess from the ‘conica’ in their scientific name, they have a conical shape, so I think you can see why they are often called the Witch’s Hat waxcap. Meetings of their covens are happening all over Europe right now!
earthstar 
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