A field is familiar to most of us, often without being fully understood. We know the gate, the slope, the route across it. We might recognise the animals grazing there, or notice which flowers appear in summer. What else it holds can take considerably longer to discover.
In Nidderdale, a search for the Date Waxcap is asking people to look again.
Nidderdale National Landscape is appealing to farmers, land managers and the public to watch for the rare fungus this autumn. Its dark brown cap contrasts with yellow to orange gills and stem. With reports emerging elsewhere in the country, the question is whether it is appearing locally too.
The timing is important. Dry ground has delayed many waxcaps, but the Date Waxcap can behave differently. Its global Red List assessment notes evidence of increased fruiting after dry summers. That makes this an opportunity to look for it, rather than a reason to assume that a difficult summer has been good for fungi.
The species, Hygrocybe spadicea, is assessed as globally Vulnerable. It fruits irregularly, so its presence can be overlooked. More visible mushrooms in a particular season would not, on their own, demonstrate a recovering population. They might allow us to record something that has previously escaped attention.
For Nidderdale, the search builds on discoveries that have already changed our understanding of some local grasslands.
Surveys reported by the National Landscape in January recorded 45 species of grassland fungi across three sites, including 25 species of waxcaps. Two sites were assessed as internationally important and a third as nationally important. Fifteen of the species recorded were on the global Red List: 14 assessed as Vulnerable and one, the glistening waxcap, as Endangered.
Those findings came from a single survey visit. They're a compelling reason to keep looking.
The surveys, carried out by Steve Hindle, were commissioned by the North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre and funded through Nidderdale’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme. Among the sites was Make it Wild’s Bank Wood nature reserve.
It's the kind of discovery that challenges our habits of attention. A landscape’s most important features aren't always the ones that announce themselves. The field you pass on a walk can merit closer examination than its unremarkable appearance suggests.
“These fungi depend on continuity,” Dr Kelly Harmar, Nidderdale National Landscape’s biodiversity officer, said when the survey findings were announced.
Continuity is a useful word here. The Date Waxcap is associated with old, low-nutrient, semi-natural grasslands. Its Red List assessment identifies habitat loss and degradation as central threats, including fertiliser application, conversion to other land uses and unsuitable management. Abandonment can also be damaging where grassland gives way to scrub or woodland.
That complicates any easy assumption that protecting nature always means leaving land alone. The care of a grassland can depend on appropriate grazing or cutting, sustained over time. A valuable habitat might exist within a working landscape, shaped by generations of management.
There's a case here for seeing farmers and land managers as partners in discovery, as well as in protection. Knowing what a field supports helps make better decisions about its future. Without records, its fungal importance can remain invisible.
Members of the public can contribute too, without becoming expert mycologists.
Plantlife’s Waxcap Watch asks participants to record the colours of waxcaps and other grassland fungi, alongside information about the site. Its approach allows beginners to help identify places that may warrant specialist investigation.
The places to look extend beyond remote pasture. Long-established lawns, churchyards, parks, verges and other grassy spaces can hold useful surprises. Plantlife recommends autumn visits, on publicly accessible land or with the owner’s permission.
The national effort has already made a difference. Plantlife’s analysis of records from 2020–2024 revealed more than 300 previously unrecorded locations for Pink Waxcap and 18 for Violet Coral. These were discoveries about distribution, rather than proof that the fungi had newly arrived. Better observation was making the map more complete.
That's an encouraging model for Nidderdale’s appeal. A photograph taken on a walk can become a lead for someone with specialist knowledge. A land manager's familiarity with a pasture can help reveal what a brief visit might miss.
We often describe nature recovery in terms of grand ambitions. There's room for something much smaller and more immediate: slowing down, noticing a colour in the grass, recording where it was.
The field might have been keeping its secrets for years. This autumn, there's a reason to ask what we have missed.
Think you've found a Date Waxcap? Look for a dark, date-brown cap and contrasting yellow to orange gills and stem. Take clear photographs of the cap, stem and underside without picking it, record the date and precise location, and send the details to Kelly.Harmar@northyorks.gov.uk.
Identification should be confirmed by a specialist. This is a recording appeal: leave the fungus where it grows.
For other grassland fungi, visit Plantlife’s Waxcap Watch for current survey instructions. Respect access arrangements and seek permission before entering private land.
