Hygrocybe conica
Fast facts
- Common names
- Blackening Waxcap
- Scientific name
- Hygrocybe conica
- When to See It
- June to November
Description
A medium-sized waxcap with a consistently conical cap and variable colouring. Its key feature is the tendency for all parts to darken and eventually turn black when handled or as it ages.
Identifying Blackening Waxcap
Young fruitbodies may have a moist, slightly slimy cap, but this soon dries to a radially fibrous surface, sometimes with scattered fibres. Colours are variable, including scarlet, orange-red, yellow or bronze, though all specimens eventually blacken with age or handling. The cap margin is often uneven or lobed. Gills are free or narrowly attached and range from whitish and greyish to pale yellow or orange. The base of the stem is usually buried in the soil, and the stem itself may be dry or slightly sticky, often becoming moist when handled. Older specimens can develop a fibrous stem.
Lookalikes
The Dune Waxcap Hygrocybe conicoides is very similar and also blackens, though typically more slowly. It is most often found in dunes, which can be a useful clue to its identity, and it usually shows stronger red tones.
When to Find Them
This is a widespread species, found in unimproved grassland, fixed dunes, marshes, woodland and road verges, typically fruiting from June to November.
Interesting Fact
This waxcap is widespread globally and occupies a broader range of habitats than most others, including the Arctic. It is also highly variable and is now considered by some authors to represent a complex of closely related species rather than a single one.
Join the hunt for North East Waxcaps
Urban or rural, beginner or expert, we need your help to record twelve distinctive waxcaps across the North East this autumn.
Your records can add to our understanding of these colourful fungi in the region and inform conservation and monitoring efforts.
Taking part is easy and every record counts, wherever you live in the region. Records of all waxcap species are encouraged.
