Support your local fungi

By Jonathan Amos
BBC News Online science staff

We are all being urged to be more fungi friendly.

The pink waxcap is listed on the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan (Image by Ray Woods)

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Conservation groups in the UK say the country has some of the world's most important populations of fungi and we should do more to encourage their growth.

They are calling for better management of pastures and grasslands, and to cherish the organisms even when they turn up in lawns, parks and churchyards.

Of particular interest are the waxcap fungi - named after their shiny, waxy or sticky caps.

Species such as the pink waxcap (Hygrocybe calyptriformis), which is often likened to a ballerina because of its similarity to a dancer's tutu, may be more common in the UK than anywhere else in the world.

Fungi advice

"When it matures, it does curl up rather like a tutu - it's a very nice analogy," says Dr Jenny Duckworth, the biodiversity research manager at the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife.

THE PINK WAXCAP Found on lawns, meadows, pastures, woodland margins Fruiting bodies generally appear August to October Pointed caps 5-7 cm tall; stems up to 10 cm tall Probably better recorded than other waxcap fungi

"In Europe, this is a very threatened species but in the UK, it is less uncommon than we thought. This means we have an international responsibility to look after it," she told BBC News Online.

Plantlife is part of the Fungus Conservation Forum, which is supporting efforts to protect those habitats that host waxcaps.

The forum - it also includes the British Mycological Society, English Nature and the Association of British Fungus Groups - provides advice to landowners on ways to manage their properties so that waxcaps, which are inedible, can thrive.

Web survey

"By keeping grassland well grazed or mown and avoiding fertilisers, fungicides and lime, and of course by taking part in the Pink Waxcap Survey, everyone can help to look after these fascinating and attractive fungi," says Dr Duckworth.

The survey aims to detail the organism's various habitats in the UK. Anyone wishing to take part simply has to log on to Plantlife's website.

Dr Duckworth added: "We want anyone who sees it out on a walk to let us know. It's very easy to spot this one because it is the only one with this pink colour.

"We want to know where it was found - was it on a lawn or in a park? - with a grid reference."