Date waxcap  (Hygrocybe spadicea)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Authentication

Information authenticated by Carl Borges of English Nature
http://www.english-nature.org.uk/ and by Dr Peter Roberts of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/

Glossary

  • Calcareous: containing free calcium carbonate, chalky.
  • fruit body: in fungi, the fruit body is the visible part of the fungus which bears spores (microscopic particles involved in both dispersal and reproduction).
  • Natural succession: the progressive sequence of changes in vegetation types and animal life within a community that, if allowed to continue, result in the formation of a 'climax community' (the last stage in a succession where the vegetation reaches equilibrium with the environment).
  • Photosynthesis: metabolic process characteristic of plants in which carbon dioxide is broken down, using energy from sunlight absorbed by the green pigment chlorophyll. Organic compounds are made and oxygen is given off as a by-product.

References

  1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary ( December 2002) http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/nhm/index.html
  2. Courtecuisse. R. (1999) Collins mushrooms of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins Publishers, London.
  3. UK Biodiversity Species Action Plan (November 2001): http://www.ukbap.org.uk
  4. English Nature (1998) The wild mushroom pickers code of conduct. English Nature, Peterborough.
  5. Boertmann, D. (1995) The genus Hygrocybe (Fungi of Northern Europe 1). Copenhagen: Danish Mycol. Soc.
  6. P. Marren (1998) Fungal flowers. The waxcaps and their world. British Wildlife9: 164-172.
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