Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
quality habitats and terms such as 'waxcap grasslands' and 'waxcap meadows' have begun to be used to
describesuchareas.Thegroupcontainssomeofourmostspectacularandcolourfulfungi.Typicalspecies
which may be found at Whiteford include red species such as crimson waxcap
Hygrocybe punicea
and
scarlet hood
H. coccinea
, yellow species such as
H. ceracea
, orange species such as blackening waxcap
H. conica
(Fig.83)andgreenspeciesliketheparrottoadstool
H. psittacina
.Thegrazedareasalsoprovide
habitatsforavarietyofspeciesdependentondung,especially
Coprinus
spp.and
Panaelus
spp.Twogiant
puffballs, themosaic puffball
Handkea utriformis
andthepestle-shaped puffball
H. excipuliformis
,which
can reach heights of 15 or even 20 centimetres in the case of the latter species, are occasionally seen on
the grassland areas at both Oxwich and Whiteford.
Despite the richness of the dune grassland it is perhaps surprisingly not the richest area for fungi on
sanddunes,asmorespeciesoffungihavebeenrecordedinthewetdepressionsofthedunesthaninallthe
other sand-dune zones put together. Species that can be found here include the true mushrooms
Agaricus
spp., the blewits
Lepista
spp. and the milk caps
Lactarius
spp.
FIG
83.
Blackening waxcap
Hygrocybe conica
in the dune grassland at Whiteford Burrows. (David Painter)
DUNE SLACKS
The flat-bottomed dune slacks form a distinct type of wetland influenced by the freshwater table that un-
derlies the larger dune systems in Gower. It is a common habitat on hindshore dunes and the larger spit
dunes, but is absent from bay and climbing dunes. There are a few small dune slacks at Llangennith Bur-
rows, while at Oxwich and Whiteford the dunes have been formed in low-lying areas and there are ex-
tensive systems of slacks. Indeed one of the main reasons for the designation of Whiteford Burrows as
a National Nature Reserve is the quality and extent of the dune slacks. Some of the slacks are very dry
andcontainplantcommunities thatresemblethosefoundonfixeddunes,whileothersaredampandoften
flooded in late winter and early spring and have a wide variety of plants more commonly found in cal-
