The Meadow Waxcap (Cuphophyllus pratensis) is one of the easiest waxcaps to recognise and one of the most frequently recorded in the UK. Its chunky pale orange to orange-brown cap sits above thick, widely spaced gills that run well down the stem, giving the whole fungus a sturdy, top-shaped outline. It fruits from late summer into winter in unimproved grassland: old pastures, lawns, churchyards and grazed upland turf that has never been fertilised.
That makes it a useful indicator, because where you find the Meadow Waxcap, other waxcaps and grassland fungi are often close by. It is regarded as edible, but waxcap grasslands are a declining habitat, so it is best recorded and left in place. The pale var. pallidus is much rarer.
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Distribution
Widespread and fairly common
Habitat
In open meadows, pastures, lawns and sometimes in broadleaved woodland
Etymology
Cuphophyllus comes from Greek words usually read as 'bent' or 'humped' and phyllon, 'leaf' (gill). pratensis is Latin for 'of meadows', after its grassland habitat.
Cap
Dry to slightly greasy, never truly slimy like many waxcaps. Colour fades with age.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Convex, Umbonate, Flattened |
| Surface | Fibrillose |
| Width | 5 - 12 cm |
Gills
Thick, waxy and widely spaced, often cross-veined, running well down the stem.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Attachment | Decurrent |
Flesh
Firm and waxy, thick at the centre of the cap.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Not distinctive |
| Taste | Mild |
Stem
Paler than the cap, becoming cap-coloured with age; solid at first, later hollow.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Height | 3 - 15 cm |
| Width | 10 - 20 mm |
| Texture | Fibrillose |
| Shape | Cylindric |
Spores
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Subglobose, Ellipsoid |
| Ornamentation | Smooth |
| Size | 5.5-7 x 4-5.5 μm |
Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
- ↳ Order: Agaricales
- ↳ Family: Hygrophoraceae
- ↳ Genus: Cuphophyllus
Synonyms
- Agaricus claviformis sensu Withering (1796)
- Agaricus miniatus sensu Sowerby [Col. Fig. Engl. Fung. 2: pl. 141 (1798)]
- Agaricus pratensis Pers.
- Camarophyllus pratensis
- Camarophyllus pratensis (Fr.) P. Kumm.
- Cuphophyllus pratensis (Fr.) Bon
- Cuphophyllus pratensis (Schaeff.) Fr.
- Gymnopus pratensis Gray
- Hygrocybe pratensis (Fr.) Murrill
- Hygrocybe pratensis (Pers. ex Fr.) Orton & Watling
- Hygrocybe pratensis var. pratensis (Fr.) Murrill
- Hygrocybe pratensis var. pratensis (Schaeff.) Fr.
- Hygrocybe pratensis var. roseipes anon. ined.
- Hygrophorus pratensis
- Hygrophorus pratensis (Fr.) Fr.
Reference Sources
T. Læssøe, J. H. Peterson (2019) Fungi of Temperate Europe Vol. 1. Princeton University Press.
G. Kibby (2020) Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe Vol. 2. Geoffrey Kibby.
