Family: Hygrophoraceae

Fungi:> Basidiomycota:> Agaricomycetes:> Agaricales:> Tricholomataceae:> Camarophyllus, Gliophorus, Humidicutis, Hygrocybe, Hygrophorus.

This is a large group of around 60 species in New Zealand, of which most are small to medium-sized and brightly coloured, saprophytic on leaf litter with white spores. Their common name of waxgill or waxcap is due to the wax like appearance of the gill surface. This family is divided into a number of different genus based on microscopic features.

As usual, the moment you start looking closely at a family, it's not long before misidentified and unnamed species start turning up. Unfortunately, recent DNA sequencing has done little to sort these out, other than to confirm that there are misidentified and unnamed species present in New Zealand.

Genus: Camarophyllus

This genus is not as showy as many of the waxgills. Colours range from pale colours to orange or grey with decurrent gills. The size ranges from as small as 25 mm in one species to 100 mm in another. Microscopically, they are recognised by their interwoven gill tissue.
Camarophyllus apricosus	Camarophyllus aurantiopallens	Camarophyllus muritaiensis	Camarophyllus pratensis var. gracilis

Genus: Cuphophyllus

Undescribed Cuphophyllus

Species are distinguished from most other waxcaps by producing basidiocarps (fruit bodies) with strongly decurrent lamellae (gills). Microscopically, they have interwoven (or rarely almost subregular) lamellar trama, with or without a regular or subregular central strand.			Resent DNA sequencing has shown this to be a unnamed species.
Cuphophyllus griseorufescens	Cuphophyllus canus		Cuphophyllus sp

Genus: Gliophorus

These are small, brightly-coloured, saprobic, soil and litter-inhabiting fungi. Gliophorus distinguishes themselves by having a thick glutinous cap and stem that is viscid to glutinous, in some cases with a glutinous edge to the gills. There are at least twelve Gliophorus species reported in New Zealand and a few undescribed ones. Identification is largely dependent on colouration, size, subtle textural and the shape of the cap.
Gliophorus chromolimoneus	Gliophorus fumosogriseus	Gliophorus graminicolor	Gliophorus lilacinoides
Gliophorus lilacipes	Gliophorus luteoglutinosus	Gliophorus pallidus	Gliophorus psittacinus
Gliophorus sulfureus	Gliophorus versicolor	Gliophorus viridis	Gliophorus viscaurantius

Undescribed Gliophorus Species

Gliophorus species

Gliophorus sp

Gliophorus species

Genus: Humidicutis

This small genus of brightly coloured saprobic agarics is distinguished from the other wax-gills by the cap that splits even in very young specimens. The split occurs in such a way as to pull apart the two faces of a single gill. found growing in moss or leaf litter on the forest floor during late autumn, with caps that are moist to viscid. Microscopically, it is recognised by the absence of clamp connections in all tissues except at the base of basidia where large medallion clamps occur.

Humidicutis conspicua

Humidicutis multicolor

Humidicutis mavis

Humidicutis rosella

Humidicutis luteovirens

Undescribed Humidicutis Species

Humidicutis species

Genus: Hygrocybe

This large group of saprobic fungi, with white spores, have thick waxy gills and a translucent texture, particularly evident in the gills. Some are drab, but most are bright with striking colours dominated by red, orange and yellow fruiting body’s. commonly found during the colder and wetter months of the year, sometimes in large numbers. Microscopically, this genus is distinguished from the other waxgills in this group by sub parallel to parallel lamellar trama.
Hygrocybe cavipes	Hygrocybe cerinolutea	Hygrocybe blanda	Hygrocybe elegans
Hygrocybe fuliginata	Hygrocybe fuscoaurantiaca	Hygrocybe julietae	Hygrocybe keithgeorgii
Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata	Hygrocybe miniceps	Hygrocybe procera	Hygrocybe rubrocarnosa
Hygrocybe striatolutea

Undescribed: Hygrocybe

Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species
Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species	Hygrocybe species

Hygrocybe Section Firmae

Section Firmae contains fungi which have dimorphous spores and, in some cases, basida (Dimorphous means of two different sizes). Only one species is described in New Zealand. This is H. firma. This name is doubtful and originates from a species found in Sri Lanka. The available description for H. firma does not match any of the known species found in NZ, with recent DNA sequencing confirming that we have six species within sect. Firmae, none of which are named, and also confirms that H. firma is not found in NZ. found in. The following are four species that I have come across that are in sect. firmae. I don’t know if these are the same as the six mentioned above or different ones again. Care is needed when looking at these microscopically, as failing to see the dimorphous spores can result in this species being miss-identified.
Hygrocybe aff. firma (orange/yellow)	Hygrocybe firma	Hygrocybe aff. firma (Red)	Hygrocybe aff. firma (Large Red)

Blackening waxgills

This small group of waxgills are recognised by their habit of going black with age or when damaged. Three species are found in NZ. Only two are shown here. One, H. astatogala is native and found in forest habitats, and the other two are introduced and found in grassland. H. astatogala comes in different colour formswhich, no one has explained why this is the case.
Hygrocybe astatogala	Hygrocybe astatogala	Hygrocybe astatogala	Hygrocybe conica

Genus: Hygrophorus

Genus: Neohygrocybe

This genus is also part of the wax gill group and is believed to be mycorrhizal. Colours tend to be dull whites and yellows. Recognised microscopically by their divergent lamellar trama.			A small genus of two described species in New Zealand that look more like a Tricholoma species than a Hygrocybe. Thus, they are often overlooked or misidentified.
Hygrophorus involutus	Hygrophorus salmonipes		Neohygrocybe sp.

Genus: Porpolomopsis

Species of Porpolomopsis have also formerly been placed in the genus Humidicutis, to which they are closely related but differ in having narrowly attached or free gills and in the shape of the hyphae in their caps. Only one species is recorded in New Zealand.

Porpolomopsis lewelliniae

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