Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Hygrophoraceae
Genus: Hygrocybe
Species: Hygrocybe procera
Binomial name: H. procera
Synonyms: Hygrophorus procerus, Hygrocybe procera, Pseudohygrocybe procera.
Common name: none.
Hygrocybe procera is a colourful indigenous Hygrocybe (waxcap) ground growing fungus. It is known from Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand growing in lowland podocarp broad-leaved forest.
The fruit bodies of this fungus are brilliant red-orange or orange-yellow, fading with age with a cap up to 5 cm in diameter, and a 15–70 x 3–6 mm cylindrical stipe (stem) of uniform diameter (15-70 x`3-6 mm) or tapering towards its base. Its spores are white.
It is saprobic fungi among the litter of lowland podocarp broad-leaved forest. Saprobic fungi usually live on the dead vegetable matter (sticks, leaves, logs), as they are the only multi-celled organisms that can digest the structural proteins cellulose and lignin, the two major components of wood (and, in fact, the two major components of plants’ cell walls in general). They appear during February-June.
Closeup. Click to enlarge.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
