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Hygrophorus chrysodon [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Hygrophorus . . . ]
by Michael Kuo When fresh, Hygrophorus chrysodon is a gorgeous white waxy cap delicately decorated with yellow flakes on the cap margin and the stem apex. With age, however, the yellow ornamentation can fade, and in rainy conditions the flakes are often washed away--leaving a nondescript whitish mushroom that is difficult to separate from other white species of Hygrophorus (though applying KOH to the flesh would still quickly separate it; see below). Hygrophorus chrysodon is edible but lousy, according to most authors; I have not tried it. Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with conifers and rarely with hardwoods (especially on the West Coast); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall (over winter in warmer climates); fairly widely distributed in North America. Cap: 3-8 cm; convex when young, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or more or less flat; slimy when fresh; white, overlaid with yellow to golden or orange-yellow granules along the margin; the margin at first inrolled. Gills: Attached to the stem or running down it; distant or nearly so; white; waxy. Stem: 3-10 cm long; up to 2 cm thick; equal above, tapering to base; when fresh sheathed with slime, at least over the lower portion; the apex dotted with granules like those on the cap margin, sometimes aggregated into an imperfect ring zone; whitish overall. Flesh: White; unchanging; soft. Odor and Taste: Not distinctive. Spore Print: White. Chemical Reactions: Flesh and surfaces lemon yellow with KOH. Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 3.5-5 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid. Gill tissue divergent, with cells 4-10 µ wide. Pileipellis an ixocutis with clamp connections present. REFERENCES: (Batsch, 1789) Fries, 1838. (Hesler & Smith, 1963; Bird & Grund, 1979; Largent, 1985; Arora, 1986; States, 1990; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Evenson, 1997; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Further Online Information: Hygrophorus chrysodon in Hesler & Smith (1963) |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2007, January). Hygrophorus chrysodon. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hygrophorus_chrysodon.html |