The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics, including Hygrophorus and Hygrocybe species, DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so it now contains not only agarics, but also basidiolichens and corticioid fungi. Species are thus diverse and are variously ectomycorrhizal, lichenized, associated with mosses, or saprotrophic. The family contains 34 genera and over 1000 species. None is of any great economic importance, though fruit bodies of some Hygrocybe and Hygrophorus species are considered edible and may be collected for sale in local markets.
Hygrophorus is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" in North America, basidiocarps are typically fleshy, often with slimy caps and lamellae that are broadly attached to decurrent. All species are ground-dwelling and ectomycorrhizal and are typically found in woodland. Around 100 species are recognized worldwide. Fruit bodies of several species are considered edible and are sometimes offered for sale in local markets.
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called waxcaps in English, basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have dry to waxy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems. In Europe they are characteristic of old, unimproved grasslands which are a declining habitat, making many Hygrocybe species of conservation concern. Four of these waxcap-grassland species, Hygrocybe citrinovirens, H. punicea, H. spadicea, and H. splendidissima, are assessed as globally "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Elsewhere waxcaps are more typically found in woodlands. Most are ground-dwelling and all are believed to be biotrophs. Around 150 species are recognized worldwide. Fruit bodies of several Hygrocybe species are considered edible and are sometimes offered for sale in local markets.
Cuphophyllus is a genus of agaric fungi in the family Hygrophoraceae. Cuphophyllus species belong to a group known as waxcaps in English, sometimes also waxy caps in North America or waxgills in New Zealand. In Europe, Cuphophyllus species are typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. As a result, four species, Cuphophyllus atlanticus, C. colemannianus, C. lacmus, and C. lepidopus are of global conservation concern and are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Porpolomopsis lewelliniae, commonly known as the mauve splitting wax-cap, is a gilled fungus of the waxcap family found in wet forests of eastern Australia and New Zealand. The small mauve- or lilac-coloured mushrooms are fairly common and appear in moss or leaf litter on the forest floor in autumn, and are biotrophic. The key distinguishing feature is the splitting of the cap dividing down the middle of the individual gills.
Hygrocybe aurantipes is a gilled fungus of the waxcap family found in a few scattered locations in wet forests in eastern Australia. It is a distinctive small mushroom with a 2–4 cm diameter olive-brown cap and golden-yellow stipe and gills, not easily confused with any other species. Known only from Lane Cove Bushland Park in Sydney's suburban Lower North Shore, Hazelbrook and Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains, it has been designated as vulnerable as defined by the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, by the New South Wales Government.
Entoloma hochstetteri, also known as the blue pinkgill, sky-blue mushroom or similar names, is a species of mushroom that is endemic to New Zealand. The small mushroom is a distinctive all-blue colour, while the gills have a slight reddish tint from the spores. The blue colouring of the fruit body is due to azulene pigments. Whether Entoloma hochstetteri is poisonous or not is unknown.
Entoloma rodwayi, known as the green stem pinkgill, is a species of fungus in the Entolomataceae family of mushrooms. A yellowish green mushroom with pink gills and spores, it is found in wet forests of Tasmania.
Amanita australis is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It produces small- to medium-sized fruit bodies, with brown caps up to 9 centimetres in diameter covered with pyramidal warts. The gills on the underside of the cap are white, closely crowded together, and free from attachment to the stem. The stem, up to 9 cm long, has a ring and a bulbous base. The mushroom may be confused with another endemic New Zealand species, A. nothofagi, but can be distinguished by differences in microscopic characteristics.
Aeruginospora furfuracea is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. The species, described by Egon Horak in 1973, is found in New Zealand. It is currently placed in the genus Aeruginospora, but may actually belong in Camarophyllopsis.
Greta Barbara Stevenson was a New Zealand botanist and mycologist. She described many new species of Agaricales.
Entoloma haastii is a mushroom in the Entolomataceae family. Described as new to science in 1964, it is known only from New Zealand, where it grows on the ground in leaf litter, usually near Nothofagus species.
Mycena cystidiosa is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1964, it is known only from New Zealand and Australia. The fruit bodies have a broadly conical small white cap up to 12 mm (0.5 in) wide, with distantly spaced cream-coloured gills on the underside. The stipe is particularly long, up to 20 cm (8 in), with an abundant covering of white hairs at the base. The species is known for its abundant rhizomorphs—long, root-like extensions of mycelia.
Gliophorus is a genus of agaric fungi in the family Hygrophoraceae. Gliophorus species belong to a group known as waxcaps in English, sometimes also waxy caps in North America or waxgills in New Zealand. In Europe, Gliophorus species are typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. As a result, two species, Gliophorus europerplexus and Gliophorus reginae, are of global conservation concern and are listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Humidicutis mavis is a gilled fungus of the waxcap family. It is found in Australia, Borneo, and New Zealand where the translucent white fungi grows from the ground to a height of 80 mm and a width of 50 mm.
Gliophorus versicolor is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in New Zealand, it was described as new to science in 1973 by mycologist Egon Horak. Within the genus Gliophorus, it is classified in the section Glutinosae, a grouping of species characterized by having bright colors, decurrent gills, and a gelatinized subhymenium. Fruit bodies have hemispherical to convex caps typically measuring 20 mm (0.8 in), although some have been recorded up to 50 mm (2.0 in). Moist caps are gluey with a color ranging from reddish brown to pinkish-lilac; the cap margin has radial grooves mirroring the gills underneath. The gills have an adnate to somewhat decurrent attachment to the stipe. They are widely spaced with color similar to the cap, or whitish. The cylindrical, hollow stipe measures 2–7 cm (0.8–2.8 in) by 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.12 in) thick. The fungus is saprobic, and fruits on the ground among Dacrycarpus and Nothofagus.
Egon Horak is an Austrian mycologist who has described more than 1000 species of fungi, including many from the Southern Hemisphere, particularly New Zealand and South America. He was an executive editor of the scientific journal Sydowia from 1975 to 1989, and a member of the editorial board afterwards.
Gliophorus bichromus is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in New Zealand, it was described by mycologist Egon Horak in 1973.
Hygrocybe appalachianensis, commonly known as the Appalachian waxy cap, is a gilled fungus of the waxcap family. It is found in the eastern United States, where it fruits singly, in groups, or clusters on the ground in deciduous and mixed forests. The species, described in 1963 from collections made in the Appalachian Mountains, was originally classified in the related genus Hygrophorus. It was transferred to Hygrocybe in 1998, in which it has been proposed as the type species of section Pseudofirmae.
