Plants and animals of Pointfield

An informal survey of the plant and animal life living in or visiting the grounds of Pointfield, Kelso since 2015   

Fungi 

Splendid waxcap

Hygrocybe splendidissima


Appearance

Cap to 5 cm in diameter, domed to subconical; scarlet often with an orange-yellow margin; smooth, polished waxy surface. Gills emarginate, white to pale orange-yellow in colour. Stalk stout - 8-10 mm diameter, pale orange-yellow in colour becoming white distally, and more or less dry; typically ovate in cross-section with a median longitudinal sulcus giving the stem an hour-glass cross-section. Spore print white. Spores pip-shaped, smooth-walled with asymmetric apiculus and no germ pore; 6.8-8.2 x 4.0-4.7 um,.mean = 7.4 x 4.4 um: Q = 1.7.

Differs from the very similar H. coccinea in having a much stouter stem that is paler in colour and oval in cross-section.

Habitat

Waxcap meadow; moderately common. 


Months observed