Hygrophorus chrysodon
Epicr. Myc. p. 320. 1838.
Common Name: none
Cap 3-7 cm broad, convex to plano-convex, often with a low umbo; margin inrolled at first, hairy with yellowish granules; surface viscid when moist, white with scattered yellow granules, the latter concentrated at the disc; flesh thick, soft, white.
Gills decurrent, distant, waxy, white, sometimes with scattered yellow edges.
Stipe 2.5-7.0 cm tall, 0.5-1.3 cm thick, equal, viscid, yellow above from adhering yellow granules, white below.
Spores 8-10 x 4-5 microns, elliptical, smooth. Spore print white.
Solitary, scattered to gregarious in mixed hardwood-conifer woods; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.
Edible according to the literature, but untried locally.
Sporting a white, viscid cap decorated with yellow granules, Hygrophorus chrysodon is one of our prettiest and easiest to recognize mid-winter mushrooms. For the beginning mushroomer, the widely spaced, waxy, white decurrent gills and white spores will help to identify this mushroom as belonging to the genus Hygrophorus. The distinctive yellow granules may weather away in age, especially those on the cap, but usually persist on the stipe apex.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Bas, C., Kyper, T.W., Noordeloos, M.E. & Vellinga, E.C. (1990). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica—Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occuring in the Netherlands. Volume 2. Pluteaceae, Tricholomataceae. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam, Netherlands. 137 p.
Bird, C.J. & Grund, D.W. (1979). Nova Scotian Species of Hygrophorus. The Nova Scotia Museum: Nova Scotia. 131 p.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1991). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 3: Boletes and Agarics (1st Part). Strobilomycetaceae, Boletaceae, Paxillaceae, Gomphidiaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Tricholomataceae, Polyporaceae (lamellate). Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 361 p
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Hesler, L.R. & Smith, A.H. (1963). North American Species of Hygrophorus. University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, TN. 416 p. (PDF)
Largent, D.L. (1985). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 5. Hygrophoraceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 208 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p. (PDF)
