Cuphophyllus lacmus
Cuphophyllus lacmus is a species of agaric in the family Hygrophoraceae. It has been given the recommended English name of grey 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 Denmark in 1803 by naturalist Heinrich Schumacher as Agaricus lacmus. 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 lacmus is a distinct species, but within a group that requires further research.
Description
Basidiocarps are agaricoid, up to 70mm tall, the cap hemispherical at first, becoming broadly convex to flat when expanded, up to 60mm across. The cap surface is smooth, slightly greasy when damp, grey to bluish grey. The lamellae are waxy, thick, decurrent, pale to dark grey. The stipe is smooth, white, lacking a ring. The spore print is white, the spores smooth, inamyloid, ellipsoid, c. 7 to 8 by 4.5 to 6 μm.Similar species
The Yellow Foot Waxcap Cuphophyllus flavipes and the Scandinavian Cuphophyllus flavipesoides are superficially similar, but in both species the lower part of the stipe is flushed yellow. Cuphophyllus subviolaceus, long considered a synonym of C. lacmus, has been shown to be a distinct species occurring in both Europe and North America, but further research is required to distinguish it morphologically.Distribution and habitat
The Grey Waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. It is also known from Greenland. Like most other European waxcaps, Cuphophyllus lacmus occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland.Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic but may be associated with mosses.