Hygrocybe spadicea
Hygrocybe spadicea is a species of agaric (gilled mushroom) in the family Hygrophoraceae. It has been given the recommended English name of Date Waxcap.[2] The species has a European distribution, occurring mainly in agriculturally unimproved grassland. Threats to its habitat have resulted in the species being assessed as globally "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1]
| Date waxcap | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Hygrophoraceae |
| Genus: | Hygrocybe |
| Species: | H. spadicea |
| Binomial name | |
| Hygrocybe spadicea | |
| Synonyms | |
Taxonomy
The species was first described from Carniola (present-day Slovenia) in 1772 by naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli as Agaricus spadiceus. Finnish mycologist Petter Adolf Karsten transferred it to the genus Hygrocybe in 1879.
Recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has confirmed that Hygrocybe spadicea is a distinct species and belongs in Hygrocybe sensu stricto.[3]
Description
Basidiocarps are agaricoid, up to 90 mm (5 in) tall, the cap conical at first, retaining an acute or distinct umbo when expanded, up to 80 mm (3 in) across, often splitting at the margins. The cap surface is smooth, dry, and radially fibrillose, brown and typically darker at the apex. The lamellae (gills) are waxy, yellow to yellow-orange. The stipe (stem) is smooth, somewhat fibrillose, yellow at first with brownish streaks when older, lacking a ring. The spore print is white, the spores (under a microscope) smooth, inamyloid, ellipsoid, measuring about 9 to 12 by 5 to 7 μm.[4]
Distribution and habitat
The Date Waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. It has also been reported from Central Asia (Kazakhstan), but its identification has not been confirmed.[1] Like other waxcaps, it occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns).
Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic but may be associated with mosses.[5]
Conservation
Hygrocybe spadicea is typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. As a result, the species is of global conservation concern and is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] Hygrocybe spadicea also appears on the official or provisional national red lists of threatened fungi in several European countries, including Croatia,[6] Czech Republic,[6] Denmark,[7] Estonia (where it is listed as "extinct"),[6] Finland,[6] Germany,[8] Great Britain,[9] Norway,[6] and Sweden.[6]
References
- Arnolds, E. "Hygrocybe spadicea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- Holden L. (July 2014). "English names for fungi 2014". British Mycological Society. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
- Lodge DJ; et al. (2014). "Molecular phylogeny, morphology, pigment chemistry and ecology in Hygrophoraceae (Agaricales)" (PDF). Fungal Diversity. 64 (1): 1–99. doi:10.1007/s13225-013-0259-0. S2CID 220615978.
- Boertmann D. (2010). The genus Hygrocybe (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Danish Mycological Society. p. 200. ISBN 978-87-983581-7-6.
- Seitzman BH, Ouimette A, Mixon RL, Hobbie EA, Hibbett DS (2011). "Conservation of biotrophy in Hygrophoraceae inferred from combined stable isotope and phylogenetic analyses". Mycologia. 103 (2): 280–290. doi:10.3852/10-195. PMID 21139028. S2CID 318326.
- "National red Lists". Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- "Den danske rødliste: Hygrocybe spadicea". Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- "Red List: Hygrocybe spadicea". Rote Liste Zentrum. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- Evans SE, Henrici A, Ing B (2006). "Red Data List of Threatened British Fungi" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-05-02.