''Neohygrocybe ovina'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungus 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. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms ...

(gilled mushroom) in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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

. It has been given the recommended English name of blushing waxcap, since the

lamellae Lamella (plural 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 * ...

(gills) and flesh turn pinkish red when bruised. 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 France in 1793 by mycologist Jean Baptiste Bulliard as ''Agaricus ovinus''. French mycologist

Robert Kühner Robert Kühner (15 March 1903 in Paris – 27 February 1996 in Lyon) was a French mycologist most notable for reviewing many forms of agaric (mushroom fungus) genera. He studied at the Sorbonne, afterwards from 1921 until 1932, he was working ...

transferred it to the genus ''Hygrocybe'' in 1926. Recent

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

research, based on

cladistic Cladistics (; ) 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 typically shared derived char ...

analysis of

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

, has confirmed that ''Hygrocybe ovina'' is a distinct species but does not belong in ''

Hygrocybe ''Hygrocybe'' is a genus of agarics (gilled fungi) in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called waxcaps in English (sometimes waxy caps in North America), basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are often brightly coloured and have dry to waxy caps, white spores, an ...

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

. Instead, it has been moved into the related but separate genus ''

Neohygrocybe ''Neohygrocybe'' is a genus of agaric fungi in the family Hygrophoraceae. ''Neohygrocybe'' species belong to a group known as waxcaps in English, sometimes also waxy caps in North America or waxgills in New Zealand. In Europe, ''Neohygrocybe'' sp ...

'', as already proposed on morphological grounds by Czech mycologist

Josef Herink Josef Herink (26 December 1915 – 20 August 1999) was a Czech physician and mycologist. Life and career Josef Herink was born in Prague on 26 December 1915. He completed his medical studies at Charles University in Prague before practicing as ...

in 1958.

Description

Basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp of a basidiomycota, basidiomycete, the Multicellular organism, multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are chara ...

are

agaricoid An agaric () is a type of fungus 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. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms ...

, up to 120mm (5 in) tall, the cap hemispherical at first, becoming broadly convex when expanded, up to 90mm (3 in) across. The cap surface is smooth, dry, sometimes breaking into scales when old, dark grey to blackish. The

(gills) are waxy, thick, and pale cap-coloured. The stipe (stem) is smooth, often compressed and furrowed, pale cap-coloured, lacking a ring. Gills and context turn pinkish red when bruised. 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 pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...

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 stain ...

, ellipsoid, c. 7.5 to 9 by 5 to 6μm.

Distribution and habitat

The Blushing Waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. A similar species, '' Neohygrocybe subovina'', occurs in North America. Like most other European waxcaps, ''Neohygrocybe ovina'' occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns). Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, 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 plan ...

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 (f ...

but may be associated with mosses.

Conservation

''Neohygrocybe ovina'' is typical of

waxcap grassland Waxcap grassland is short-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 principally in ...

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. ''Neohygrocybe ovina'' also appears on the official or provisional national

red list The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

s of threatened fungi in several European countries, including Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q54371173 Hygrophoraceae Fungi of Europe Fungi described in 1793 Taxa named by Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

See also

References