(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
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Vermillion Waxcap
Edible 
Autumn 
Winter 
A small red Waxcap that is fairly easy to identify as it has a scurfy cap unlike most other Waxcaps which have smooth, greasy caps. Being fairly rare and small this beautiful mushroom, although edible, is better to admire and photograph than to pick for any reason.
| Mushroom Type | |
| Common Names | Vermillion Waxcap |
| Scientific Name | Hygrocybe miniata |
| Season Start | Sep |
| Season End | Dec |
| Average Mushroom height (CM) | 5 |
| Average Cap width (CM) | 3 |
Cap
Has a dry, scurfy cap that starts red but fades to orange yellow with age.
Gills
Pale yellow widely spaced gills which can have an orange or red hue.
Stem
Concolourous with the cap and smooth.
Flesh
The flesh is thin and off white.
Habitat
In pastures, fields with short grass and open woodland.
Possible Confusion
Some of the other small red waxcaps like the Scarlet Waxcap, pictured, but these have greasy caps unlike the miniatas scurfy cap.
Spore Print
White, ellipsoid.
Taste / Smell
Mushroomy but this mushroom is very small and is best left in the ground.
Frequency
Uncommon.
Other Facts
Waxcaps don’t like to be disturbed or sprayed so will be found where fields and woodland have been left alone.
It is now thought that waxcaps grow in association with mosses, before it was thought that waxcaps were saprophytic living or decaying organic matter.
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