Species details

Garlic waxcap

Hygrocybe helobia

Inedible

Description

A small orange to blood-red waxcap of bogs and peatlands; crushed gills may have a faint garlic smell.

Identification features

Cap 1–2.5 cm, orange to blood-red, convex at first, later nearly flat and slightly depressed when old. Gills are initially whitish-yellow, later orange to orange-red. Stem is thin, orange to orange-red and dry.

Identification checklist

Check the very small orange-red fruitbody in bog habitat, young whitish-yellow gills and, if possible, a faint garlic smell from crushed gills.

Detailed features

Cap: Cap 1–2.5 cm, orange to blood-red, convex at first, later nearly flat and slightly depressed when old.
Hymenophore: The gills are initially whitish-yellow, later orange to orange-red.
Stem: Stem is thin, orange to orange-red and dry.

Size

Cap diameter: 1–2,5 cm

Habitat

Grows mainly in bogs and peatlands, also on damp unfertilised grassland, among heather and in woodland clearings, in autumn; rare.

Fruiting period

September, October, November

Ecology

Substrate: Grassland
Soil: Moist
Notes: Grows mainly in bogs and peatlands, also on damp unfertilised grassland, among heather and in woodland clearings, in autumn; rare.

How to separate similar species

Hygrocybe miniata is similar but usually grows in different habitats and its crushed gills lack the garlic smell. Odour cannot be confirmed from a photograph.

Similar species

Conservation

Red list: I – indeterminate category
Notes: On the Slovenian Red List: I – indeterminate category.