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waxcap id help please (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter regor
- Start date
Yes they are all wax caps. They can be notoriously hard to identify, and such characteristics as the surface texture (waxy, moist, dry) are sometimes significant. That said, the first might be Hygrocybe conica. The second is H. psittacina. I would not really like to say for the others, though the third looks to have decurrent gills, suggesting perhaps H. cantharellus.
It's nice to know that wax caps are appearing.
Thanks for your help Leif. I tried to id them using the Collins Field Guide but got confused. They look so distinctive in the field but there seem to be many similar species and with a lot of variability. Like you say they are a difficult group! Is there a guide specifically to waxcaps?
Roger
Roger
Fungi of Northern Europe, Hygrocybe by Boertmann is probably the best book. It is the only one that I have which I find has reliable descriptions of each species. Other guides are pretty much useless for all but the easiest ones. However, you will have to make notes at the time of collection, and maybe even examine spores back at home. Even then it is quite hard, and I can only reliably determine some of them.
