Jewels

Looking out of the window, I am glad that I revised my plans for today. I had considered resuming the Rotherham Ring Route which I was obliged to postpone over 18 months ago now, or to try a favourite location for dragons and damsels - something I haven't seen much of this year. as the forecast didn't look to promising, I thought I'd go into the garden earlier and get a banker - these wonderful waxcaps. Waxcaps (Hygrocybe) are the jewels of the fungi world, with their lustrous sheen and their wonderful colours, and usual grow in unimproved grassland. Our front lawn does look unimproved, it's true. It has a myriad of plant species in it. I was delighted to find 2 species of waxcap fruiting: this one is the Blackening Waxcap, Hygrocybe conica. It does indeed turn black with age, but it starts off red, orange or yellow. The other rejoices in the name Hygrocybe insipida, not such a great name, but the common name, I like much better - Spangle waxcap