Pink waxcaps

[fatsam]

Hello! I have Pink waxcap growing on my lawn, apparently it is quite rare. I have photos but too big too upload! Are they really that rare? I live in Paisley, near the edge of town; I don't cut hte grass too often and have brown birch bolete, meadow wax cap, brown roll rim and other wee waxcap species.

[fatsam]

Just did bit of a look on Google and apparently not that rare just unrecorded. ah well..

[Andy Overall]

Hey, they aren't that common either. I've only seen it once in 16 years out in the field. So I would count yourself very lucky to have it growing on your lawn, alongside others.

Andy

[earthdragon64]

Maybe not rare, but not common either if you have a look on the NBN gateway, link below;

NBN Gateway - interactive species mapper

You might also find the Scottish Fungi website interesting;

Scottish Fungi

There are a few Fungi groups in Scotland including the Clyde and Argyll group, which I'd guess is your nearest. There's a link to them about half way down the left side of the Scottish Fungi link above.

You should be able to resize your photos to make them the correct size for uploading. There's a sticky thread in the Photography forum with information about uploading photos.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...tml#post657362

Regards, Audrey.

[SheffieldLass]

As others have said Hygrocybe calyptriformis is not that rare, but its presence is a good indicator of fungi-rich unimproved grassland which is a habitat that has declined greatly and is under threat and becoming quite rare (especially in urban/suburban areas where it is now usually only found in churchyards). As it sounds as if you have a number of other waxcaps in your lawn then your lawn is quite rare

I'm envious. I've only had H psittacina so far in my lawn (I keep hoping for more waxcaps to show). Though I do get quite a few fungi from other genera, so it is quite fungi rich, so I can't really complain. But a few more waxcaps would be nice.

What is your grass cutting/maintenance regime? Do you leave the cuttings or collect them, or if you collect them is it inefficient, spilling quite a bit onto the lawn? Clearly you don't do anything by way of fertilising or weedkilling otherwise you'd have lost the waxcaps. And I presume you have plenty of moss in the lawn as waxcaps are associated with mosses rather than grass. All information gratefully received - I'm wanting to improve my lawn, fungi-wise (and make it more flower-rich too ...), or at least maintain what is already there.

cheers
Melanie

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by fatsam

Just did bit of a look on Google and apparently not that rare just unrecorded. ah well..

With its pink colouring it is very noticeable and quite distinctive, so probably better recorded than many other grassland fungi. Apparently one of the reasons for having it on the BAP list, or at least retaining it on the BAP list is that by focussing people's attention on it fungi-rich unimproved grassland will be better recognised and recorded. It is one that is usually only present in grassland that has a number of other waxcaps, so a good indicator species for this type of grassland.

Melanie

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

As others have said Hygrocybe calyptriformis is not that rare, but its presence is a good indicator of fungi-rich unimproved grassland which is a habitat that has declined greatly and is under threat and becoming quite rare (especially in urban/suburban areas where it is now usually only found in churchyards). As it sounds as if you have a number of other waxcaps in your lawn then your lawn is quite rare

I'm envious. I've only had H psittacina so far in my lawn (I keep hoping for more waxcaps to show). Though I do get quite a few fungi from other genera, so it is quite fungi rich, so I can't really complain. But a few more waxcaps would be nice.

What is your grass cutting/maintenance regime? Do you leave the cuttings or collect them, or if you collect them is it inefficient, spilling quite a bit onto the lawn? Clearly you don't do anything by way of fertilising or weedkilling otherwise you'd have lost the waxcaps. And I presume you have plenty of moss in the lawn as waxcaps are associated with mosses rather than grass. All information gratefully received - I'm wanting to improve my lawn, fungi-wise (and make it more flower-rich too ...), or at least maintain what is already there.

cheers
Melanie

Just out of interest Melanie, although I have never seen pink Waxcaps, one garden I used to look after in Suffolk regularly had Parrot Waxcaps turn up despite the owner getting me to apply moss killer on 2 occasions and I used a mower with a collecting bag.

Guess that only tells you Parrot Waxcaps are quite tolerant as long as the soil is right or are simply just tolerant.

Neil.

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by fairplay

Just out of interest Melanie, although I have never seen pink Waxcaps, one garden I used to look after in Suffolk regularly had Parrot Waxcaps turn up despite the owner getting me to apply moss killer on 2 occasions and I used a mower with a collecting bag.

Guess that only tells you Parrot Waxcaps are quite tolerant as long as the soil is right or are simply just tolerant.

Neil.

Maybe the moss was resiliant! Parrot waxcaps do seem to be more tolerant though. Hygrocybe virginia seem more tolerant of semi-improvement of grassland for cattle than other waxcaps. When grassland is changed from being grazed by sheep to being grazed by beef cattle many of the waxcaps seem to disappear, even when the grassland doesn't get 'improved' or treated differently apart from the change in grazing animal.

I've got an interesting site close to me, part of which has ancient monuments, a series of dykes which are unimproved grassland, another part is semi-improved grassland, and another area more rank unimproved grassland. It is grazed by sheep and cattle that range over the whole area. The cattle don't graze on the dykes much, they prefer the semi-improved grass or rank stuff, whereas the sheep and rabbits prefer the dykes. The waxcaps are almost without exception on the dykes, and the grass there is very short and full of moss. When I first saw it in the spring I knew it had the right jizz, and was proved right in the autumn. I'm sure there is a good research project to be had there .... In the 'good old days' I imagine much of the unimproved grassland was grazed by mixed cattle and sheep herds/flocks. I wonder if they did graze differentially and create diversity within the grassland. But stick on just cattle and the diversity of grassland gets lost and so do the niches for the waxcaps ... or whether different breds of cattle have different effects. Just thoughts ....

[fairplay]

When Hygrocybe calyptiformis received all that publicity about 10 years ago, I'm sure a lot of research was done into it's precise requirements.

If only I had eaten only a teaspoon full of Chris's brains, I might be able to find some research papers for you to read up on.

Neil

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

...... But stick on just cattle and the diversity of grassland gets lost and so do the niches for the waxcaps ... or whether different breds of cattle have different effects. Just thoughts ....

That's interesting as a lot of the focus in the Dales in terms of grassland conservation is getting farmers to switch from lots of sheep to lower numbers of cattle (smaller breeds like Belted Galloways, Highland, English Longhorn etc). In terms of "flower" species it seems to work in increasing diversity but I haven't really looked at the fields in terms of fungi - a job for some of these nice fine autumnal days which must be on their way by now.