Waxcaps: the hidden jewels in Yorkshire’s grasslands
Welcome to NEYEDC's waxcap page where you will find information about our grassland fungi projects and how you can get involved.
Unimproved, low-nutrient grasslands are a rare and threatened habitat in England, the product of traditional land management over centuries. The identification of specific grassland sites where fungi are present is essential to inform land management and conservation decisions, but existing biological records for grassland fungi are often not sufficient in detail to allow a record to be associated with a specific field or area of grassland. Building on initial funding covering three field seasons (2022 - 2024), NEYEDC aims to continue to identify and map Important Grassland Fungi Sites across North and East Yorkshire through working with our team of volunteers and feeding into both national initiatives and local funding sources.
Our first waxcap project, which ran from September 2022 - December 2024 was funded by Yorkshire Water's Biodiversity Enhancement Programme, aimed to both map Important Grassland Fungi Sites and, through training and group fungi forays, recruit and equip a dedicated and enthusiastic cohort of volunteers to visit and catalogue such sites. During the lifetime of this project we were also successful in securing extra funding from the Nidderdale Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL), North York Moors FiPL and the Yorkshire Dales Biodiversity Fund which paid for additional training courses and professional fungi surveys of key sites by grassland fungi specialist Steve Hindle.
In 2025 we will continue with this work thanks to further funding from three FiPL grants in the Howardian Hills and Nidderdale National Landscapes and the North York Moors National Park.
How can I get involved?
Casual Recorders
For those with no prior fungal survey experience, or who do not wish to take on the commitment of a more detailed survey, we are looking for casual volunteers who would like to use the WaxcApp Survey app (see below), developed by Plantlife and modified for our project, to record waxcap fungi whilst out and about this autumn. This could be a site you already know to host grassland fungi, or somewhere new to you that you stumble across; either way our casual volunteers will be essential to help us identify new sites to incorporate into our longer-term survey plan.
Copyright Claire Bending
Field Surveyors
Individuals wishing to extend their taxonomic expertise, or who know of a potentially good fungi grassland site that they would like to ‘adopt’ and survey over a number of years. Surveyors can use both the WaxcApp Survey (see below) to submit records, but also complete further training in fungal survey, before going out into the field to one or more local sites to further their knowledge with peer support.
2025 events
The following events are taking place this year in relation to the Yorkshire Waxcaps project. This page will be updated as sites are finalised - please keep checking back! To express your interest in attending an event, please email info@neyedc.co.uk and include your full name and the event/date you would like to attend. Once signed up, specific details will be provided near the time e.g. meeting place. Please be aware that the event may be cancelled at short-notice if the weather forecast is poor, but we do try to venture out in all weather!
01/10/2025 - Evening Zoom session summing up initial project and what next - Online - 19:30-20:30
08/10/2025 - Introduction to Grassland Fungi - Lower Nidderdale, north of Ilkley/Otley - 10:30-13:00
10/10/2025 - Introduction to Grassland Fungi - Bilsdale / Snilesworth, western North York Moors - 10:30-13:00
14/10/2025 - Introduction to Grassland Fungi - Whitby area, eastern North York Moors - 10:30-13:00
19/10/2025 - Grassland Fungi Improver’s Session - Central North York Moors, location tbc - 10:00-15:00
21/10/2025 - Introduction to Grassland Fungi - Howardian Hills, west of Malton - 10:30-13:00
23/10/2025 - Grassland Fungi Improver’s Session - Nidderdale, location tbc - 10:00-15:00
TBC - Foray - Nidderdale, location tbc - 10:00-14:00
TBC - Foray - Howardian Hills, location tbc - 10:00-14:00
TBC - Foray - Whitby area - 10:00-14:00
TBC - Foray - Settle area - 10:00-14:00
TBC - Foray - Castle Bolton area - 10:00-14:00
• The Introduction to Grassland Fungi events are aimed at those with no previous experience of fungi identification. We will be taking a walk through some fungi rich grassland and learning key ID features on our way. These events are based outside.
• The Grassland Fungi Improver’s events are aimed at those with some grassland fungi ID skills who wish to further their knowledge. Where possible, there is a mixture of classroom/indoor learning with a good amount of outside site work.
• The Forays are informal events where we work as a group to identify and record fungi. Everyone is welcome and the group is usually made up of a mix of skill levels from beginners to experienced. We arrange the date through doodle poll to ensure that most people can come along, so please register your interest by emailing with details of the session(s) you would like to attend.
• If there is enough interest we will run a microscopy session at the end of October or early November, aimed at those wanting to start learning how to prepare slides and identify microscopic features such as spores. Please email to register your interest.
For all sessions (apart from the microscopy session which will be indoors), please bring warm and waterproof outdoor clothing and suitable footwear for rough ground. A packed lunch will be required for the improver’s sessions and forays. Maximum walk length for all sessions will not exceed two miles, but there will be some inclines and uneven ground.
Existing Records
If you already know of a grassland that contains waxcaps, corals, earthtongues or pinkgills (often referred to as CHEGD fungi) and have species records for that site that you would be willing to share with NEYEDC, please do send them to us. You can email records using the button below, either in your own format, or you can download our CHEGD Fungi Recording Form template.
Plantlife WaxcApp Survey
Since 2022 NEYEDC has been working in collaboration with Plantlife to create a Yorkshire-wide, project specific version of their very successful national Waxcap Watch Survey. This simple survey can be accessed via a smartphone app or website. It records the colour of waxcaps and corals and presence of earthtongues. It can be completed by anyone and will help us to better understand where waxcap and other grassland fungi habitat can be found across Yorkshire so we can focus efforts to protect them.
For 2025 NEYEDC’s Yorkshire-wide WaxcapApp Survey will be joining with Plantlife’s national version, which has had some tweaks and improvements following user feedback. NEYEDC will still receive the information provided in the same way, allowing us to quickly identify new sites for follow up survey.
To download the survey to your smartphone, you first need to download the ArcGIS ‘Survey123’ app from the App Store or Google Play. Full instructions and FAQs can be downloaded here: NEYEDC WaxcApp
If this does not work for you, an alternative method is to download the Survey123 app and open in your phone, selecting ‘Continue without signing in’. Next, click on the small QR code logo in the top right-hand side of the app, next to the search bar. Scan the QR code here and the NEYEDC Waxcaps survey should download.
Alternatively, you can record the information using pen and paper in the field on our WaxcApp Survey Form Crib Sheet and email us your results or enter them online here: NEYEDC WaxcApp Survey Form
WaxcApp Interactive Map
The results of Plantlife’s WaxcApp survey, including the records for Yorkshire will be displayed on an interactive map below when available. These include all observations made in 2020 and 2021 as part of Plantlife’s national project as well as those from NEYEDC’s version between 2022 - 2024.
Resources
There are some brilliant ID resources available to help your foray into identifying grassland fungi.
Steve Hindle at the National Trust has produced the following guides which cover various aspects of grassland fungi identification, including:
CHEGD Fungi Introduction
Waxcaps Key
Fairy Club Key
Pinkgill Diversity Key
Grassland Waxcap Identification Support Tool
This interactive tool created by Clare Blencowe at Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre allows you to enter grassland fungi features to help you reach a positive ID for your finds.
Plantlife have a variety of waxcap resources, including this helpful sheet covering some common species and identification tips.