''Cuphophyllus lepidopus'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. It is a type of mushroom (or toadstool) ...

(gilled mushroom) in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order (biology), order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (th ...

. It has been given the recommended English name of scalyfoot waxcap. The species has a European distribution, occurring mainly in agriculturally unimproved grassland. Threats to its habitat have resulted in the species being assessed as globally "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Taxonomy

The species was first described from England in 1927 by

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Carleton Rea Carleton Rea (7 May 1861 – 26 June 1946) was an English mycologist, botanist, and naturalist. Background and education Carleton Rea was born in Worcester, the son of the City Coroner. He was educated at The King's School and Magdalen Coll ...

as ''Hygrophorus lepidopus''. It was known only by an illustration of Rea's collection until rediscovered in England in 2004. It was then considered a variety of ''Hygrocybe fornicata'', but subsequent

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

research, based on

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis of

DNA sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the ...

, has indicated that ''Cuphophyllus lepidopus'' is a distinct species.

Description

Basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...

are

agaricoid An agaric () is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. It is a type of mushroom (or toadstool), ...

, up to 100mm (4 in) tall, the cap broadly conical at first, becoming broadly convex when expanded, up to 75mm (3 in) across. The cap surface is slightly greasy when damp, cream with pale buff to greyish centre, wholly or partly speckled with fine brownish scales. The

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

(gills) are waxy, thick,

adnexed In mycology, a lamella (: lamellae), or gill, is a papery hymenophore rib under the cap of some mushroom species, most often agarics. The gills are used by the mushrooms as a means of spore dispersal, and are important for species identificatio ...

, white to cream. The stipe (stem) is whitish, speckled with fine brownish scales, lacking a ring. The

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

is white, the spores (under a microscope) smooth,

inamyloid In mycology a tissue or feature is said to be amyloid if it has a positive amyloid reaction when subjected to a crude chemical test using iodine as an ingredient of either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, producing a blue to blue-black staini ...

, broadly ellipsoid, c. 5.5 to 7.5 by 4 to 5 μm.

Similar species

The earthy waxcap '' Cuphophyllus fornicatus'' is very similar, but lacks scales on cap or stipe. The two species have been confused in the past and further research is required to distinguish them morphologically.

Distribution and habitat

The scalyfoot waxcap is only known with certainty from England, but is presumed to be more widespread in Europe. Like most other European waxcaps, ''Cuphophyllus lepidopus'' occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns). Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...

nor

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

but may be associated with mosses.

Conservation

''Cuphophyllus lepidopus'' is typical of

waxcap grassland Waxcap grassland is short-wikt:sward, sward, nutrient-poor grassland that supports a rich assemblage of larger fungi, particularly waxcaps (species of ''Hygrocybe'' and related genera), characteristic of such habitats. Waxcap grasslands occur pr ...

s, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices. As a result, the species is of global conservation concern and is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References