reserves in Danbury. I identified the waxcap as H. miniata, from the short hyphae in the
gill trama, its squamulose cap and its unusually shaped spores.
On 17th October a visit to the grasslands in Hatfield Forest with Shirley Watson yielded
H. pratensis, H. chlorophana and H. ceracea followed by H. mucronella, H. pratensis
var pratensis and H. virginea var virginea in Little Leighs churchyard on the 27th October.
The waxcap special field meeting on 1st November was rather disappointing with six
species in Fryerning churchyard, six species in Chelmsford cemetery and seven species
in Little Leighs churchyard before rain terminated the search. The species were H.
virginea var ochraceopallida, H. psittacina var psittacina, H. pratensis var pratensis,
H. ceracea, H. coccinea and two large and beautiful specimens of H. punicea in Fryerning,
H. pratensis var pratensis, H. virginea var ochraceopallida, H. ceracea, H. coccinea,
an even bigger specimen of H. punicea and a very small example of the Red Data species
H. calyptriformis in Chelmsford cemetery and H. virginea var ochraceopallida, H.
pratensis var pratensis, H. coccinea, H. psittacina var psittacina, H. ceracea,
H. mucronella and H. fornicata in Little Leighs.
The following day we made the first record of H. calyptriformis at Mill Meadows,
Billericay with H. psittacina var psittacina and H. insipida; a tally which was even
more disappointing than the previous days search.
These disappointments were somewhat alleviated by an invitation by David Williams to
look at some waxcaps at Hitchcocks and Dell Meadows in Danbury on 4th November.
There was a magnificent display of many Meadow Waxcap H. pratensis var pratensis
and Crimson Waxcap H. punicea in Dell Meadow with smaller numbers of five other
species, H. coccinea, H. chlorophana, H. conica var conica, H. virginea var
ochraceopallida and H. ceracea.
The season presented a puzzle as to what the conditions required for the fruiting of fungi
are. The weather has been wetter this year and not unduly cold although there were
some frosts in the last week. Whatever they were they certainly suited the Meadow and
the Crimson Waxcaps in Danbury.
Report of EFC fungus foray at Grays Gorge on 15 October 2008
Mary Smith 33 Gaynes Park Road, Upminster, Essex RM14 2HJ
Four brave souls met at the entrance to survey the fungi in Grays Gorge. It is a part of the
Chafford Gorges Nature Park (EWT) in Thurrock and a SSSI. It is an old chalk pit, not
worked since the 1950s and owned by the EWT. Why were we brave? Because the
weather forecast was not at all encouraging, so we turned up with waterproofs and the
usual gear, but we had hardly a sprinkle all the 4 hours we were there, and those of us
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 58, January 2009
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