Hygrocybe flavescens
Description
Hygrocybe flavescens is a widespread species recognized by its medium size, bright yellow-orange colors, and viscid, convex to a plane cap. The cap can be orange when young but is usually bright lemon yellow when expanded. The stipe is about the same color as the cap, and the gills are generally a paler shade of yellow. It occurs in a wide range of forest and woodland habitats.
This mushroom can be easily mistaken for other yellow waxcaps some of which are mildly toxic.
Synonyms: Hygrophorus flavescens, Hygrocybe chlorophana var. aurantiaca Bon.
Common names: Yellow Waxcap, Golden Waxy-Cap.
Mushroom Identification
Ecology
Precise ecological role uncertain; appearing in woods under hardwoods or conifers; frequently - but not exclusively - found under coast redwood on the West Coast and under beech in eastern North America; growing scattered or gregariously; spring through fall, or in winter in warmer climates; widely distributed in North America.
Cap
2-4.5 cm; convex, expanding to broadly convex or nearly flat; slimy when fresh; fragile; bald; lemon yellow, aging to orangish-yellow - or sometimes more orangish centrally and bright yellow marginally; the margin not lined.
Gills
Narrowly attached to the stem, or attached by a notch; close or nearly distant; at first nearly whitish, but soon pale yellow; short-gills frequent.
Stem
4-10 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; equal or slightly tapering to base; dry or greasy (especially on handling) but not slimy; bald; bright yellow, fading somewhat; fragile and easily splitting; white at the base.
Flesh
Thin; yellowish.
Odor and Taste
Not distinctive.
Chemical Reactions
KOH negative on cap surface.
Spore Print
White.
Microscopic Features
Spores 7-10 x 4.5-6 µ; smooth; ellipsoid; only rarely constricted; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia to 40 µ long; 2- and 4-sterigmate. Hymenial cystidia absent. Lamellar trama parallel. Pileipellis an ixotrichoderm.
Look-Alikes
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Can be distinguished by its conic cap.
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Similar, noted in North America as having a more viscid stipe. This distinction is not made in Europe, indicating that they may be the same species.
Hygrocybe parvula
Similar but smaller species; its stem is usually pinkish red, contrasting with the yellow cap color.
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Geoff Balme (geoff balme) (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 2 - Author: 松岡明芳 (CC BY-SA 3.0, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic)
Photo 3 - Author: Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo 4 - Author: ESLP_Mycology (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 5 - Author: Alan Rockefeller (Alan Rockefeller) (CC BY-SA 3.0)