I checked out the Wax Caps and other grassland fungi

Heeding the forecast of a wet weekend I thought I'd focus on checking out the grassland fungi to see how they are doing this year. The main interest is in the Wax Caps (hygrocybe) which like unimproved grassland. Interestingly in America they are a woodland species. Wax Caps are distinguished by their bright colours and often shiny caps created by a glutinous lower layer. Over the years I've identified a dozen or so different Wax Caps up the Welcombe and it's good fun to find them. Nestling as they do in the grass and some being quite small, close inspection may be required. In other words time to get down low. To take decent pictures even lower may be required. Here are some of the Wax Caps you can find on the grassy slopes of the hills. Not all are named as I didn't take any back with me to do a detailed check (here's a link to a Wax Cap Key if you want to have a go yourself).

In a separate post I'll show images of some of the other fungi commonly found alongside the Wax Caps which you can also see up the Welcombe Hills.










Left. Blackening Wax Cap (Hygrocybe conica). This one is fairly easy to identify. Conical orange cap often appearing dirty due to bruising black when touched. As it ages it turns completely black.