Hygrocybe in plant pot?!?

[solus]

Ventured out into the garden today between rain showers and was amazed to see this - or rather these - glowing at me from a large plastic patio pot containing a Pittosporum crassifolium (brought home from the Isles of Scilly as a seedling many years ago.)



The pot contains some shop-bought multi-purpose compost which has been untouched for a number of years and is covered by a topping of 20mm gravel.

I can only conclude this is a Hygrocybe although I thought Waxcaps were grassland species!

The cap is slightly greasy but not sticky; the stipe smooth and filled with yellow fibres. There was a noticeable smell when I huffed on the gills which was definitey not mushroomy and (closing my eyes and taking deep sniffs) was sort of pleasant and fruity.

Anyway, having some time ago downloaded a Hygrocybe (macroscopic features) Key from somewhere, this one seems to key out as Hygrocybe splendidissima.....

So - have I got it all horribly wrong or is this really a Hygrocybe of some sort growing in my plant pot?

[Ditiola]

Hi
This is definitely a Hygrocybe.

Purely on looks alone I would say it is what I used to call H. strangulatus, but now included in H.miniata. This is based on:
Small Cap
Cap not conical
Yellow edge to cap
Yellowish edge to gills

While I would not rule out H.splendissima, it is usually quite conical in shape at least until the latter stages of development, and it is usually much bigger.

Although perhaps a WABer with more knowledge of Hygrocybe will say something completely different.

Peter

[Ken Burgess]

It's often tricky to get waxcaps down to species without microscopic information.

The jizz definitely doesn't feel right for H. splendidissima. And I think the squamulose appearance of the cap surface of one of the specimens may well just be a product of age because the other caps look more lubricous (i.e. slightly greasy to the touch), which would rule out H. miniata and its allies.

Based on the overall jizz, I think these may be odd-looking Hygrocybe coccinea, but only microscopy could confirm this.

Ken