About this fungus
Heath Waxcap is a fungus in the Hygrophoraceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A small waxcap with a glossy, slimy cap and stem, widely spaced waxy gills and colours that can shift through orange, brown, salmon, grey and yellow. The gills normally run a short distance down the stem.
What to check
Check that both cap and stem are viscid, that the gills are thick, widely spaced and decurrent, and that no ring or volva is present. The cap is often shallowly depressed and its margin may show radial lines. Exact species work can require microscopy, especially outside Europe.
Variation
Colour is unusually variable, even within one group. European grassland forms are often orange to brown, while related North American material can include greyer, yellower or greener tones. Odour ranges from absent to faintly fishy or rubbery and is not a dependable single character.
Lookalikes
Gliophorus psittacinus and related waxcaps can be similarly slimy but often show clearer green tones, especially when young. Cuphophyllus pratensis is larger and more robust. Small waxcaps overlap strongly in colour, so cap texture, gill attachment, habitat and microscopy should be considered together.
Habitat and range
In Europe it is associated mainly with long-established, low-nutrient grassland, heath and mossy ground. In North America, the broader Gliophorus laetus group is also recorded from damp woodland and boggy moss. These regional habitat differences should not be forced into one universal ecological rule.
Food safety
Edibility is uncertain or disputed.