Fibrous Waxcap

Basidiocarps are agaricoid, up to 150mm (6 in) tall, the cap conical at first, becoming flat when expanded, up to 110mm (4 in) across, often splitting at the margins. The cap surface is dry, radially fibrillose to coarsely fibrillose, orange to orange yellow. The lamellae (gills) are waxy, white to pale cap-coloured. The stipe (stem) is stout, dry and fibrous, pale cap-coloured with a whitish base, lacking a ring. The spore print is white, the spores (under a microscope) smooth, inamyloid, ellipsoid, c. 8.5 to 10 by 5 to 6.5μm. The comparatively large size, colour, and stout, fibrous stipe are distinctive among European waxcaps.

The fibrous waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe. Like other European waxcaps, it typically occurs in old, agriculturally unimproved, short-sward grassland (pastures and lawns). Recent research suggests waxcaps are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic but may be associated with mosses.