Here's something that'll make you look at your local cemetery differently: it might be hiding internationally threatened fungi that are as rare as snow leopards.
I'm not kidding. The UK conservation charity Plantlife are conducting their biggest year ever for their "Waxcap Watch" program, and the results are genuinely exciting. They recruited 850 volunteers to hunt for brightly coloured mushrooms in their neighbourhoods, and together they've discovered hundreds of sites where rare species are thriving, often in places scientists couldn't access before.
The Finds
So far, the volunteers have found 300 new locations of the pink waxcap (Porpolomopsis calyptriformis) - a candy-pink mushroom that's listed as "vulnerable" on the global red list of threatened species. That's the same threat category as giant pandas and snow leopards, which really puts it in perspective.
They also discovered 18 new sites for the violet coral (Clavaria zollingeri), which looks exactly like its name suggests - a vibrant purple coral growing out of the grass.
Before this survey, there were only about 1,000 known sites for pink waxcaps and 183 for violet coral in the British Mycological Society's database. So these citizen scientists have added very meaningful data.
Why the UK Punches Above Its Weight
These mushrooms are internationally rare, but the UK has a relatively high number of them. Why? Because they thrive in ancient, nutrient-poor grasslands. The kind that haven't been ploughed or fertilised or generally messed with for centuries. And Britain happens to have more of this habitat than many places.
"We have an international responsibility in the UK to protect these fungi," says Dr. Aileen Baird, Plantlife's senior fungi conservation officer. The UK is basically a global stronghold for these species.
But the problem is that we're losing this ancient grassland habitat fast. Development, intensive farming, fertilisers, pesticides, soil disturbance. All of these are bad news for waxcaps. Even well-intentioned tree planting can be a threat if it happens in the wrong places, since these fungi specifically need grassland, not woodland.
The Unexpected Locations
What I love about this story is where people are finding these rare mushrooms. They include:
- Private gardens and lawns
- Churchyards and cemeteries
- Sheep farms
- School playing fields
- Parks and amenity grasslands
These aren't remote nature reserves. During a Plantlife webinar, volunteers were encouraged to survey literally anywhere with grass, including their own backyards. One person has apparently done over 60 surveys in a single season.
The beauty of citizen science is that it opens up all these private spaces that professional mycologists simply can't access. Your neighbour's lawn might be harbouring fungi that are more threatened than a snow leopard, and we'd never know without people like you looking.
Why Waxcaps Make Great Beginner Fungi
If you're thinking about getting involved in mushroom identification, waxcaps are an excellent starting point. Unlike many fungi that require serious expertise to tell apart, these ones are pretty distinctive.
"They're generally quite brightly coloured," Baird explains. "So we have bright red, pink, orange, yellow, some even kind of green and purple." They're like nature's candy collection scattered across grassland.
The Waxcap Watch survey is actually designed to be accessible to complete beginners. It's colour-based rather than requiring species-level identification. See a red one? Record red. See a yellow one? Record yellow. The survey app even captures your location data automatically, so you don't need to figure out grid references.
The Bigger Picture
These colourful little mushrooms are indicator species, meaning they tell us something important about the health of their ecosystem. If you find lots of waxcap species in one place (17 or more makes it a site of national importance), you've likely found one of those increasingly rare ancient grasslands.
Clare Blencowe from the British Mycological Society puts it well: "These fungi are vital indicators of the health of our grasslands and highlight the biodiversity that exists around us in our towns, as well as our countryside."
Think about that. In an era where we're constantly hearing about biodiversity loss and habitat destruction, here's a network of 850 regular people helping to map where pockets of ancient, healthy ecosystems still exist, often right under our noses in urban and suburban areas.
How It Works
The survey runs every autumn (this year from September 15 to December 31, though in the webinar they mentioned it really depends on when ground frosts hit, which is usually sometime in December but occasionally into early January).
You download the Survey123 app, head to a grassy area, and record what colours of waxcaps you see. There are also three specific species they track: the pink waxcap, the violet coral, and (new this year) the blushing waxcap (a gothic-looking dark brown mushroom with red tones that's an especially strong indicator of excellent habitat).
What's clever about the design is that even "null returns", when you survey somewhere and find nothing, are valuable data. Knowing where waxcaps aren't growing is just as important as knowing where they are.
The Community Aspect
One detail that really stood out from the webinar: there's a whole Waxcap Watch Facebook group where volunteers help each other with identification, and experienced mycologists from the community volunteer their time to answer questions. It's described as "community led" and apparently an excellent resource for learning.
Plantlife also offers a free online training course divided into four units that goes beyond the basic survey and teaches you how to identify grassland fungi to species level. They held ten in-person training events this year (all fully booked, with waiting lists).
Why This Matters Now
Look, I know we're all drowning in doom-and-gloom environmental news. But this is one of those stories that's genuinely hopeful and actionable.
Yes, we're losing ancient grassland habitat. Yes, these internationally important fungi are threatened. But we also have hundreds of volunteers finding new populations in unexpected places. We're building a much clearer picture of where these species survive. And that knowledge is the first step toward protecting them.
Some sites have even been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) purely because of their waxcap populations. That's real conservation happening because people went out and looked.
The Invitation
If you're in the UK and you've got even a small patch of grass near you (a lawn, a park, a cemetery, literally anywhere) you could be part of this. The survey's running right now through the end of December.
And even if you're just someone who thinks mushrooms are neat, there's something genuinely joyful about the idea of walking slowly through a grassy area in autumn, looking for bright pink and purple fungi that are rarer than giant pandas, and knowing that what you find could contribute to protecting an ancient habitat.
Even if you survey somewhere and find absolutely nothing, that data is still valuable. So there's no pressure, just an opportunity to look more closely at the world around you and maybe discover something rare and beautiful that's been hiding in plain sight all along.
The Waxcap Watch survey runs until December 31st. You can find more information and download the survey app at Plantlife's website.
