We recently hosted the annual autumn waxcap ID walk, organised by the Herefordshire Meadows Group, at The Sturts (north) Nature Reserve. The event was intended to help meadow owners and surveyors identify the distinctive waxcap fungi which are indicators of good grassland management and soil health. It was attended by 15 people alongside expert fungi recorders, Jo Weightman and David Williamson.

Rory Johnson from the Herefordshire Meadows Group reports “Although the total number of waxcaps were lower than hoped for (they are very fickle) we still found 11 different species of fungi making this a locally important site for grassland fungi according to Plantlife’s metric.”

The low diversity of species so far this autumn, seems to reflected across many of our meadow sites. With a spell of more favourable weather for fungi fruiting bodies to emerge, we will keep looking out for more of these colourful indicators of species-rich grasslands.

We  found 11 different species of fungi making this a locally important site for grassland fungi according to Plantlife’s metric.