Cuphophyllus colemannianus
Cuphophyllus colemannianus is a species of agaric in the family Hygrophoraceae. It has been given the recommended English name of toasted waxcap. 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.
Taxonomy
The species was first described from Britain in 1854 by naturalist Andrew Bloxam as Hygrophorus colemannianus. It was transferred to the genus Cuphophyllus by the French mycologist Marcel Bon in 1985.Recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has confirmed that Cuphophyllus colemannianus is a distinct species.
Description
Basidiocarps are agaricoid, up to 50mm tall, the cap hemispherical at first, becoming broadly convex to flat when expanded, up to 50mm across. The cap surface is smooth, slightly greasy when damp, brown with paler margin. The lamellae are waxy, thick, decurrent, white to pale buff. The stipe is smooth, white, lacking a ring. The spore print is white, the spores smooth, inamyloid, ellipsoid, c. 7.5 to 9 by 5 to 6μm.Distribution and habitat
The Toasted Waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. It is also known from Greenland. Like most other European waxcaps, Cuphophyllus colemannianus occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland, with a marked preference for calcareous sites.Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic but may be associated with mosses.