About Hygrocybe helobia (Arnolds) Bon
Hygrocybe helobia (Arnolds) Bon produces agaricoid basidiocarps that grow up to 4 cm (2 in) tall. The cap is shallowly convex to flat, reaching up to 2 cm (1 in) across. The cap surface is dry, matt, and finely squamulose (scaly); it is bright scarlet when fresh, turning orange as it ages. The lamellae (gills) are waxy in texture, range in colour from white to orange-red, and are broadly attached to the stipe. The stipe (stem) is smooth, cylindrical, and matt. It matches the cap in colour, becoming paler towards its base. This species produces a white spore print. Under a microscope, the spores are smooth, inamyloid, and broadly ellipsoid to oblong in shape, measuring approximately 8 to 10 by 5 to 6 μm. Hygrocybe helobia may have a garlic smell, particularly when kept in a closed small container for some time. The garlic waxcap is widespread across Europe, where it typically grows in old, unimproved, short-sward grassland such as pastures and lawns. Recent research indicates that waxcaps as a group are neither mycorrhizal nor saprotrophic, and may be associated with mosses.
