I know what you’re thinking, it’s autumn - meadows and grassland are a summer nature highlight. And you’re not wrong! Through the warmer months these habitats burst with colourful flowers and hum with pollinators, but if you’re out walking in the autumn, there’s a brightly coloured surprise hidden among the plants. 

What could it be other than waxcaps, little gems of fungi scattered through grass in a rainbow of colours. Just like the flowers and insects present in the summer are indicative of good quality habitat, so too are these unsuspecting little mushrooms - they just haven’t had the same PR team! 

What do waxcaps look like?

Waxcaps can appear from late summer and carry on fruiting right into winter, depending on conditions. Lots of species have a classic mushroom shape with gills coating the underside of the cap. The caps themselves often appear waxy or shiny making them stand out but it’s the colours that really make waxcaps an exciting find. Depending on the species they can be violet, pink, orange, yellow or green, with parrot waxcaps even changing colour from green to yellow as they age.

Where to find waxcaps

Waxcaps are fussy, they typically inhabit continuous grassland, with preference for a short sward. It’s best to look for them on grassland with some grazing animals or that has been scythed or mowed at the end of summer is key. The best places to look are:

• Meadows and grazed pastures
• Grassy clifftops
• Upland grassland, such as hills and mountains
• Urban areas like parks, church yards and grassy verges
• Garden lawns.

Waxcap conservation

The UK is globally important for waxcaps, but their reliance on specific habitat and conditions make them vulnerable. 

Waxcaps need unimproved, species rich grassland as they form symbiotic relationships with plants, sharing nutrients with the plants roots through their mycorrhizal network. These mycorrhizal networks can be damaged if the soil is loughed for farming, taking decades to recover. Fertilizers and herbicides can also completely destroy the habitat   for waxcaps, eliminating them from an area entirely.

To make matters worse, they are significantly under recorded, making them difficult to conserve and protect. According to PlantLife, the majority of developments, including those for housing and other infrastructure, don’t survey for fungi because of a lack of people able to survey and ecological surveys mostly happening in spring and summer, when flora and birds are present, all resulting in fungi getting disregarded entirely. This means precious waxcap habitat is being permanently lost before we even know whether the fungi are there.  

This is why our friends over at PlantLife have established Waxcap Watch - a citizen science project aimed at gathering information about the spread of waxcaps in the UK. You don’t have to be a fungi expert to take part! PlantLife have helpful guides online and identifying waxcaps is done based on colour, so anyone can get involved. 

Find out more

Always make sure that if you’re going out to record fungi, that you have the landowner’s permission to be there and please refrain from unnecessarily picking fungi. Many species of waxcaps are considered rare and need to remain in the ground to release spores and continue their lifecycle.