Hygrocybe psittacina - Parrot Waxcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Commonly referred to as the Parrot Waxcap, this brightly coloured mushroom appears in summer and autumn on roadside verges, in cropped grassland and in woodland clearings.

Two varieties of Parrot Waxcaps have been described: Hygrocybe psittacina var. psittacina and Hygrocybe psittacina var. perplexa; the latter was at one time considered to be a separate species Hygrocybe perplexa.

Identification Guide

	Cap Initially green with shades of yellow, orange or purple, the bell-shaped cap expands and turns more yellow, sometimes retaining an orange or purplish tinge. Cap diameter at maturity is 2 to 4cm.
	Gills The thick, waxy gills are distant and have adnate attachment to the stipe. At first green near the stipe and yellow towards the edge of the cap, as the fruitbody matures most of the green colour in the gills fades.
Stem	Slender and usually straight; green near the cap and often more yellow below; solid, with pale flesh. 4 to 8mm diameter and 4 to 6cm tall.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	Cropped grassland that has not been subject to artificial fertiliser treatment for the past 30 years or more; also woodland clearings and shady roadside verges.
Season	August to November.
Occurrence	Frequent
Similar species	Hygrocybe flavescens is an all-yellow waxcap of similar size, but it does not have the initial green colouration and it has a hollow stipe at maturity.