Hygrocybe punicea - Crimson Waxcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

One of the largest of the waxcaps, Hygrocybe punicea is an infrequent find on cropped grassland and regularly mown churchyards. It occurs in late summer and autumn. This lovely waxcap often occurs in small clusters, and when young it is sometimes covered with a whitish bloom. Initially deep blood red, the caps develop paler patches as they age.

The Crimson Waxcap is often confused with the much-more-common Scarlet Waxcap, Hygrocybe coccinea, generally a smaller and more gregarious mushroom with a paler red cap that is often yellowish towards the margin even when young and not fully expanded.

Identification Guide

Cap	The 3 to 10cm diameter domed or broadly umbonate cap is dark blood red, becoming yellow with age.
Gills	Yellow, reddening as the fruitbody ages, the gills are adnexed or free; they are moderately distant.
Stem	Level; no ring; yellow, often tinged with orange but generally paler towards the base.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	Closely cropped or mown grassland where artificial fertilisers are not spread.
Season	August to November.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Hygrocybe coccinea is smaller, a paler red, and has a less fibrous reddish stem. Hygrocybe conica has a more pointed cap and yellow stem flesh;it turns black with age or when cut.