Butter Waxcap

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Butter Waxcap is a small, brightly colored, late season, gilled mushroom. It occurs in Europe, North America, and Australia. In the United States it occurs from the East Coast to the Upper Midwest and in the Pacific Northwest. It is common in Europe, less common in North America, and uncommon in Minnesota. It is found from late summer through fall, in areas with short grass, including grasslands, pastures, parks, and lawns, and in mixed woodlands. It grows on the ground, scattered or in groups, on soil or on moss. The ecology is uncertain.

The cap can be ⅜″ to 1½″ (1 to 4 cm) in diameter but is usually no more than 1″ (25 mm) in diameter. When it first appears it is hemispherical, not cone-shaped. It is lemon yellow to orangish-yellow, darker towards the center. The margins are translucent and faintly lined (striate). The upper surface is hairless and is covered with tiny nodules that are visible only under magnification. It is somewhat shiny and appears waxy. This is the feature that gives the genus its common name. As it ages, the cap becomes broadly convex; it fades to straw yellow; and the margins slowly fade to white. Mature caps are dry and almost flat or slightly depressed. When moist they are sticky or greasy (viscid) to the touch but are never slimy. On older caps the margins often turn upward slightly, exposing the gills.

The stalk can be ¾″ to 2″ (2 to 5 cm) long and 1⁄16″ to ⅛″ (2 to 4 mm) thick, but is usually no more than 1½″ (4 cm) long. It is hollow and the same size at the base and the top. It is hairless and the same color as the cap, sometimes orangish at the base. It is slightly viscid when young but soon becomes dry. It is usually round in cross section, sometimes compressed. There is no ring on the stalk.

The gills are soft, thick, waxy, and spaced far apart. They are pale yellow to nearly white. They are either broadly attached to the stalk or slightly run down the stalk. Between adjacent primary gills there is a smaller, shorter gill.

The flesh is yellowish, thin, fragile, and very soft. It is edible and colorful, but insubstantial and flavorless.

The sport print is white.

Golden Waxy Cap (Hygrocybe flavescens) cap is larger. The cap is lemon yellow to golden yellow or sometimes orange toward the center. The gills may be closely or widely spaced. They are narrowly attached to the stalk or not attached (free). It is found in woodlands.

Grasslands, pastures, parks, lawns, and mixed woodlands

Late summer to fall

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Uncommon in Minnesota

Bright yellow mushrooms.

Appeared to have tiny mites on it.

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Location: Fairview Twp, Cass County