rel="nofollow" href="#uc792cc7d-1b2d-573f-b2cd-3d2ec560fc7c">71) has a brighter yellow cap and a viscid stem. The author has observed mixed collections fruiting together in gregarious groups.
Hygrocybe flavescens
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hygrocybe nitrata (Pers.) Wünsche
SYNONYM: Hygrophorus nitratus (Pers.) Fr.
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 2-3/4 in. wide; grayish brown to buff; bell-shaped at first, becoming convex and finally flat; surface dry, bald at first and then breaking up into fine fibers and squamules
FLESH: Brownish gray; thin; not staining when cut or bruised; odor nitrous, medicinal; taste acidic
GILLS: White with grayish tints; notched; subdistant; broad; waxy; edges even; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 4 in. long; white or grayish; equal or enlarged at the base; surface bald; hollow
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Considered to be saprobic, but recent studies indicate a possible association with mosses and other plants; gregarious to scattered in broadleaf and conifer woods on the ground, in litter, and in moss; summer and fall; occasional
EDIBILITY: Unknown
COMMENTS: The nitrous odor of this rather drab-colored species will set it apart from other similar mushrooms.
Hygrocybe nitrata
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Neohygrocybe subovina (Hesler and A. H. Sm.) Lodge and Padamsee
SYNONYM: Hygrocybe subovina (Hesler and A. H. Sm.) Lodge and S. A. Cantrell
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 2 in. wide; dark grayish brown when dry, nearly black when moist; convex to broadly convex, becoming flat; surface dry, fibrillose, slightly scaly at times, or smooth
FLESH: Colored about like the cap, at times paler, unchanging when damaged; thick over the center, thin at the margin; odor sweet, like brown sugar; taste not distinctive or slightly soapy
GILLS: Whitish to grayish brown, bruising reddish; just reaching the stem or notched; broad; distant to subdistant; edges usually even but at times distinctly saw-toothed; waxy; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 2-1/2 long; colored about like the cap, at times paler or darker; tapering up or sometimes equal; cylindrical, sometimes compressed; hollow; surface bald, longitudinally striate
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; scattered to gregarious in broadleaf and mixed woods, often under oaks; summer and fall
EDIBILITY: Unknown
COMMENTS: The photo shown here was of a collection that lacked the characteristic sweet odor and had saw-tooth gills, which is somewhat unusual. Otherwise it is typical. A very similar species is Neohygrocybe ovina (not illustrated), which has an ammonia-like odor.
Neohygrocybe subovina
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Gliophorus perplexus (A. H. Sm. and Hesler) Kovalenko
SYNONYM: Hygrocybe psittacina var. perplexa (A. H. Sm. and Hesler) Arnolds
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 1-1/4 in. wide; variable colors; egg-yolk yellow, reddish orange, reddish brown, at times with green or olivaceous areas; conic to convex, becoming flat in age, at times with a broad umbo; surface glutinous, bald, translucent striate
FLESH: Colored like the cap or paler; thin; odor and taste not distinctive
GILLS: Pale pinkish at first, becoming yellow to yellow orange in age; barely reaching the stem; subdistant; edges even; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 2-1/2 in. long; yellow or yellowish buff or a paler version of the cap color; equal or tapering slightly upward; hollow; surface bald, slimy
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Thought to be saprobic, but its relationships with certain mosses and other plants has yet to be determined; scattered to gregarious in moss, on soil, and on lawns and in broadleaf forests and parks
EDIBILITY: Not poisonous, but too small and slimy to be considered as an edible species
COMMENTS: Once considered a variety of the Parrot Wax Cap, Gliophorus psittacinus (not illustrated), which is bright green at first but soon fades to colors similar to those of Gliophorus perplexus. All species in the genus Gliophorus are slimy and slippery to handle when wet.
Gliophorus perplexus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Gliophorus laetus (Pers.) Herink
SYNONYM: Hygrocybe laeta (Pers.) P. Kumm
COMMON NAME: Chameleon Wax Cap
FAMILY: Hygrophoraceae
CAP: Up to 1-1/2 in. wide; very variable in color, with mixtures of orange, yellow, and white, and at times shrimp pink or violaceous; convex to flat, with a central depression; surface bald, slimy when wet, tacky and shiny when dry, translucent striate
FLESH: Whitish, pale orange or pink; thin; odor variable, fishy, skunky, sweet, or not distinctive; taste not distinctive
GILLS: Pink, yellow, whitish, or violet gray; attached to subdecurrent; fairly broad; subdistant; waxy; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 2-1/2 in. long; colored like the cap only paler; equal; surface viscid, bald
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY:
