About Hygrocybe intermedia (Pass.) Fayod
Hygrocybe intermedia produces agaricoid basidiocarps that grow up to 150mm (6 in) tall. The cap is conical when young, becomes flat when fully expanded, and can reach up to 110mm (4 in) across, often splitting at the margins. The cap surface is dry, radially fibrillose to coarsely fibrillose, and coloured orange to orange yellow. The lamellae (gills) are waxy, ranging from white to pale cap-coloured. The stipe (stem) is stout, dry and fibrous, pale cap-coloured with a whitish base, and lacks a ring. The spore print is white. Under a microscope, the spores are smooth, inamyloid, and ellipsoid, measuring around 8.5 to 10 by 5 to 6.5μm. Among European waxcaps, this species is distinctive for its comparatively large size, colour, and stout, fibrous stipe. Common name the fibrous waxcap, this fungus is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. Like other European waxcaps, it typically grows in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland including pastures and lawns. Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic, and may be associated with mosses.
