Waxy Caps or Hygrocybes are characterized by their colorful caps and stems and they often show a waxy or greasy substance on their cap. They are often 'poetically' called the 'orchids' among the fungi. Most of them are good indicator species of stable and natural or semi-natural habitats. In Europe many hygrocybe species are good indicators of nutrient poor and old grasslands. They don't occur on soils where high doses of fertilizers were used. Most of the Hygrocybes are saprophytic mushrooms or mycorrhiza mushrooms, who live on grasses.
The Parrot Waxcap and Snowy Waxcap are among the more generalist species of their genus, who can be found on a wide variety of soil types, mainly in grasslands but also in open forests, as long as these have never been heavily fertilized.