Cuphophyllus pratensis

Cuphophyllus pratensis
On a few European red lists of threatened fungi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Hygrophoraceae
Genus: Cuphophyllus
Species: C. pratensis
Binomial name
Cuphophyllus pratensis
(Schaeff.) Bon (1985)
Synonyms[1]

Agaricus pratensis Schaeff. (1774)
Hygrophorus pratensis (Schaeff.) Fr.) (1836)
Camarophyllus pratensis (Schaeff.) P. Kumm. (1871)
Hygrocybe pratensis (Schaeff.) Murrill (1914)

Cuphophyllus pratensis is a species of agaric (gilled mushroom) in the family Hygrophoraceae. It has been given the recommended English name of meadow waxcap in the UK[2] and in North America has variously been called the meadow waxy cap,[3] salmon waxy cap,[4] and butter meadowcap.[5] The species has a widespread, mainly temperate distribution, occurring in grassland in Europe and in woodland elsewhere. The basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are edible and are occasionally collected and sold commercially.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1774 by the German mycologist and naturalist Jacob Christian Schäffer as Agaricus pratensis. It was subsequently combined in a number of different genera, before being transferred to Hygrocybe in 1914. The specific epithet comes from Latin "pratensis" (= growing in meadows).[6] Molecular research published in 2011, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences found Hygrocybe pratensis not to belong in Hygrocybe sensu stricto and was moved back to the genus Cuphophyllus, in which it had previously been placed.[7]

Description

Basidiocarps are agaricoid, up to 150 mm (6 in) tall, the cap convex at first, becoming flat, umbonate, or slightly depressed when expanded, up to 125 mm (5 in) across. The cap surface is smooth and dry, pale salmon to orange-buff. The lamellae (gills) are waxy, pale cap-coloured, and decurrent (widely attached to and running down the stipe). The stipe (stem) is smooth, cylindrical or tapering to the base, and cream to pale cap-coloured. The spore print is white, the spores (under a microscope) smooth, inamyloid, ellipsoid, about 5.5 to 6.5 by 4.0 to 5.0 μm.[8]

Similar species

Hygrocybe berkeleyi is very similar, but fruit bodies are white (it has sometimes been considered a variety of H. pratensis).[8] Hygrophorus nemoreus is also similar, but is an ectomycorrhizal species, growing in woodland with oaks, and has a distinctly mealy smell.[8]

Distribution and habitat

The meadow waxcap has a widespread distribution, mainly occurring in temperate zones. It has been recorded in Europe, North Africa, North and South America, northern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.[9][10] Like other waxcaps, it grows in old, unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns) in Europe, but in woodland elsewhere. Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic but may be associated with mosses.[11]

Conservation

In Europe, Cuphophyllus pratensis is typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. Though the species is one of the commoner members of the genus, it nonetheless appears on the official or provisional national red lists of threatened fungi in a few European countries, including the Czech Republic,[12] Germany (Bavaria),[13] and Poland.[14]

Edibility

Fruit bodies of the meadow waxcap are edible[8] and in some countries are seasonally collected for commercial sale in local markets.

References

  1. ↑ "Cuphophyllus pratensis". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  2. ↑ "Recommended English Names for Fungi in the UK" (PDF). British Mycological Society. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  3. ↑ Roody WC. (2003). Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. p. 121. ISBN 0-8131-9039-8.
  4. ↑ Bessette AE, Roody WC, Bessette AR. (2007). Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-8156-3112-5.
  5. ↑ McKnight VB, McKnight KH. (1987). A Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 197. ISBN 0-395-91090-0.
  6. ↑ Rea C. (1922). British Basidiomycetaceae: A Handbook of the Larger British Fungi. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 799.
  7. ↑ Babos M, Halász K, Zagyva T, Zöld-Balogh Á, Szegő D, Bratek Z. (2011). "Preliminary notes on dual relevance of ITS sequences and pigments in Hygrocybe taxonomy". Persoonia 26: 99–107. doi:10.3767/003158511X578349.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Boertmann D. (2010). The genus Hygrocybe (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Danish Mycological Society. p. 200. ISBN 978-87-983581-7-6.
  9. ↑ "Global Biodiversity Information Facility: Hygrocybe pratensis". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  10. ↑ Roberts P, Evans S. (2011). The Book of Fungi. Chicago, USA: Chicago University Press. p. 656. ISBN 978-0-226-72117-0.
  11. ↑ Seitzman BH, Ouimette A, Mixon RL, Hobbie EA, Hibbett DS. (2011). "Conservation of biotrophy in Hygrophoraceae inferred from combined stable isotope and phylogenetic analyses". Mycologia 103 (2): 280–290. doi:10.3852/10-195.
  12. ↑ "Red list of fungi (macromycetes) of the Czech Republic". Czech Scientific Society for Mycology. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  13. ↑ "Rote Liste gefährdeter Großpilze Bayerns" (PDF). Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  14. ↑ "Czerwona Lista grzybów Polski". Retrieved 2012-01-10.
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