This is a late-season wax cap that can often be found near Hygrophorus flavodiscus (p. 6). Before cooking, peeling or removing most of the slime with a dry cloth is recommended.
Hygrophorus fuligineus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hygrophorus purpurascens (Alb. and Schwein.) Fr.
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Veiled Purple Wax Cap
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 4-1/2 in wide; pinkish red to purplish red, streaked with darker red areas; convex to broadly convex, finally flat; surface viscid when wet; bald, appressed fibrillose, at times finely scaly in age; margin turned under at first, at times upturned in age
FLESH: White; firm; not staining when cut or bruised; odor not distinctive; taste slightly bitter or not distinctive
GILLS: Pink, reddish or white; attached to subdecurrent; subdistant; narrow; sometimes forked; edges even; covered at first with a semi-membranous or cortinate partial veil
STEM: Up to 3-1/2 in. long; white, streaked with reddish purple; generally equal, or tapering in either direction; solid, surface dry, fibrous, remnants of the partial veil are often present as a ring zone on the upper stem
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with conifers; mostly at higher elevations; scattered to gregarious in moss or litter in conifer and mixed woods, often with spruce; late summer and fall; uncommon
EDIBILITY: Edible but rather bitter
COMMENTS: This is a northern species that has remnant populations in the higher altitudes of the Appalachians. Compare with Hygrophorus russula (not illustrated), which has similar colors, lacks a partial veil, and occurs in broadleaf woodlands, often with oak.
Hygrophorus purpurascens
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hygrophorus sordidus Peck
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAMES: Snow White Wax Cap, Sordid Wax Cap
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 7 in. wide; white or with a yellowish center in age; convex to nearly flat; surface viscid, mostly bald with small hairs in age; margin incurved at first
FLESH: White, unchanging when exposed; thick; waxy; odor not distinctive; taste mild or slightly bitter
GILLS: White, becoming yellowish in age; waxy; adnate to subdecurrent; subdistant; broad; close to subdistant; edges even; intervenose; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 4 in. long; white, slightly brownish from handling; equal or tapering downward, at times with a chiseled base; solid; surface dry, glabrous, or faintly hairy near the apex
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly other broadleaf trees; solitary to usually gregarious in humus or soil; late summer and fall; occasional
EDIBILITY: Edible
COMMENTS: The waxy texture and attached gills will help distinguish this species from other all-white mushrooms. Compare with Russula brevipes (p. 34) and Tricholoma subresplendens (p. 91).
Hygrophorus sordidus
Photo by Alan Bessette
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hygrophorus tennesseensis A. H. Sm. and Hesler
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Tennessee Wax Cap
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 4 in. wide; reddish tan all over at first, then whitish at the margin and remaining tawny to brown at the center; convex with an incurved margin at first, becoming flat, at times with a broad central depression; surface bald, viscid to glutinous when wet; cuticle tastes sour
FLESH: White; thick; firm; odor of raw potatoes; taste bitter
GILLS: White; attached to subdecurrent; subdistant; edges even; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 4 in. long; white; equal or tapering downward; solid; surface dry, usually scurfy at the top, appressed fibrillose below
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; gregarious to clustered in coniferous litter; especially under hemlock; late summer and fall; occasional
EDIBILITY: Not edible
COMMENTS: The sour-tasting cuticle (observed by licking), bitter-tasting flesh, and potato odor will distinguish this species from other similar-looking species of Hygrophorus and Tricholoma.
Hygrophorus tennesseensis
SMALL WHITE-SPORED MUSHROOMS WITH A WAXY TEXTURE
Hygrocybe, Gliophorus, and Humidicutis
HYGROCYBE IS A GENUS of small, usually terrestrial, waxy, often brightly colored mushrooms. The waxy texture can be determined by the paraffin-like feel of the flesh when crushed. Most have a dry or viscid cap that is not glutinous. Gliophorus species are small and have a glutinous cap.
Other waxy-textured genera have been split from Hygrocybe. These include Humidicutis (p. 84), Cuphophyllus (not illustrated), and Gloioxanthomyces (p. 72).
If a mushroom does not key out here, try the keys to small, white-spored mushrooms with specialized or various habitats.
Hygrocybe chlorophana
