Illustrations: F 12a; Hvass 92; LH 79; NB 336; WD 345.
General notes on Hygrophori
Hygrophori are some of our most colourful groups of agarics, many are brightly coloured with caps in reds, greens, yellows, oranges, etc., the colour often accentuated by the usually slimy aspect. Traditionally the genus Hygrophorus has been split into three groups as follows:—
Limacium with slimy cap, adnate to decurrent gills and slimy or tacky stem which may also often be ornamented with dots, especially towards the top.
Camarophyllus with dry cap, smooth and fibrous stem and decurrent gills.
Hygrocybe with thin, fragile, sticky or moist cap, smooth fibrillose stem and gills varying from free to decurrent.
The last two sections have been joined together into the single genus Hygrocybe and all the members seem to be saprophytic or intimately associated with grassland communities. The first section Limacium now makes up the genus Hygrophorus and its members are thought to be mycorrhizal with trees, e.g. H. hypothejus (Fries) Fries with pine, the ‘Herald of the winter’ because it occurs at the end of the fungus season and H. chrysaspis Métrod, a whitish, sickly-smelling fungus under beech. Results from examining the anatomy of the gills appears to confirm these divisions. All the Hygrophori have a homogeneous flesh, white spores, central, fleshy stem and thick, waxy gills; microscopically this group of fungi can be recognised by the very long basidia.
The following are common examples of the genus Hygrocybe:—
H. calyptraeformis (Berkeley & Broome)
Fayod has a rose-pink, conical cap which expands to become upturned at the edge with age.