Scarlet Hood

Description

The Scarlet Hood is a small fungus with a bright red cap 2–5 cm in diameter. The cap is smooth, slimy when wet, and fades to ochre-yellow with age. The gills are red-orange, later yellow-orange, and the brittle, hollow stem is red, paler towards the base. The flesh is thin and watery, with a mild taste and faint odour.

It grows from June to October, most often in late summer and autumn, solitary or in groups, on poor, dry pastures, meadows and forest clearings, mainly in the foothill and mountain zone. In Poland it is rare and appears on the Red List.

Distinguishing it from other red waxcaps can be difficult. The crimson waxcap is larger and has whitish flesh in the cap, while the honey waxcap, garlic waxcap and vermilion waxcap are small and similarly coloured. Because of its rarity and small size it has no practical use and should not be collected.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 2–5 cm; hemispherical or bell-shaped when young, becoming convex with age, then almost flat. Surface smooth, slimy in wet conditions, dull in dry weather, with fine adpressed fibrils; margin sharp, cap only weakly grooved. Colour red to scarlet-red, fading to ochre-yellow with age.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills thick, broad, fairly close (rather distant according to some descriptions), broadly adnate and decurrent with a small tooth; initially red-orange, later yellow-orange. Gill edges yellow and smooth.

Stem

Height 2–6 cm, thickness 3–10 mm, cylindrical, flattened, often bent, slightly narrowed at the base; surface smooth, fibrous, stem brittle and hollow inside. Colour scarlet-red to orange-red, white or yellowish towards the base. No ring.

Flesh

Thin, brittle, watery; red-orange or yellowish-red in the cap. Odour and taste mild, faint. The flesh should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores oval, 7–9.5 × 4–5 µm (measurements from a single description).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotrophic fungus growing in grasslands; solitary or in groups on poor, dry pastures and unfertilised meadows, forest clearings and woodland edges. In North America also in forests, including under redwoods.

Distribution. Northern Hemisphere: Europe (especially unfertilised grasslands), North America, Asia (Nepal, India, China, Japan). Specimens from Australia originally identified as H. coccinea have been reclassified as other species. Rare in Poland, growing mainly in the foothill and mountain zone; on the Red List it has category R (potentially threatened due to limited range and small habitat areas). It also appears on lists of threatened species in, among others, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. It is not under species protection in Poland.

Fruiting. From June to October; in Europe most often late summer and autumn (August–October), in North America also in winter.

What can it be confused with?

• Hygrocybe punicea (crimson waxcap) — Larger, with whitish flesh in the cap.
• Hygrocybe miniata (vermilion waxcap) — A small red waxcap, very similar; some authors treat it as a synonym of H. coccinea, others as a separate species.
• Hygrocybe reidii (honey waxcap) — A smaller red waxcap; detailed features need to be checked. Protected in Poland (partial protection), not included in the Atlas — do not pick.
• Hygrocybe helobia (garlic waxcap) — A smaller red waxcap, associated with wet, peatland habitats.
• Protected waxcaps (Hygrocybe) — Caution: protected species not included in the Atlas: H. calyptriformis (strict protection in Poland; pink, conical) and H. splendidissima (large, red), H. aurantiosplendens (orange), H. reidii, H. citrinovirens, H. fornicata and H. ingrata (partial protection). They grow in old, unfertilised meadows and pastures; telling them apart needs details. Do not pick waxcaps.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The first description dates from 1774 by Jacob Christian Schäffer, who named the species Agaricus coccineus; the current genus name was given by Paul Kummer in 1871.
• English names of the species include "scarlet hood", "scarlet waxcap" and "righteous red waxy cap".
• It belongs to the waxcaps, fungi characteristic of unfertilised, old grasslands; their presence indicates well-preserved habitats.
• Specimens from Australia originally identified as H. coccinea have been reclassified as H. miniata or H. kandora.