Meadow Waxcap

Description

Meadow Waxcap is a late season gilled mushroom. It is widespread, common, highly variable in size and shape, and somewhat variable in color. This has led to it being described many times under different names. It has also been moved to different genera several times. A recent phylogenetic study (Lodge et al., 2013) placed it in the genus Cuphophyllus, and that is where it remains today. In printed field guides and other literature, it may be found in the genus Hygrophorus, Camarophyllus, or Hygrocybe.

Meadow Waxcap occurs in North America, in Australia and New Zealand, and throughout Europe. In the United States and southern Canada, it occurs east of the Great Plains, in the Pacific Northwest, and on the West Coast of California. It appears from late spring through fall in other areas, but in Minnesota, all sightings have been from mid-July to early October. It is found in deciduous and coniferous forests, in thickets, and in fields and other grassy areas. It grows on the ground, alone, scattered, or grouped but not clustered (gregarious). The ecology is uncertain.

The cap can be ¾″ to 3½″ (2 to 9 cm) in diameter but is usually no more than 2⅜″ (6 cm) in diameter. When it first appears, it is dome-shaped or convex, not cone-shaped. It is reddish brown to orangish or brownish orange, darker towards the center. The upper surface is slightly sticky or greasy (viscid) to the touch but never slimy. It is covered with tiny, appressed fibers that are visible only under magnification. The margins are not lined. As it ages, the cap becomes broadly convex to almost flat, sometimes with the margins uplifted. The color fades to orangish buff, salmon buff, pinkish tan, or buff, and the margins slowly fade to white. The mature cap is dry and almost flat or slightly depressed. The upper surface is dry, smooth, and bald. On older caps, it sometimes cracks at the center.

The gills are soft, thick, broad, somewhat waxy, and spaced moderately far apart. They are colored like the cap or pale orange, salmon buff, to nearly white. They slightly run down the stalk. Between adjacent primary gills there are shorter gills that do not reach the stalk. At maturity, there are often cross-veins as well.

The stalk can be ¾″ to 4″ (2 to 10 cm) long and 3⁄16″ to ¾″ (5 to 20 mm) thick, but it is usually no more than 1¾″ (4.5 cm) long. It may be the same size from top to bottom or slightly tapered toward the bottom. The surface may be hairless or covered with fine, hair-like fibers (fibrilose). It is whitish or tinged with the color of the cap. There is no ring on the stalk.

The flesh is whitish or tinged with the cap color. It does not change color when sliced. It is edible but it is often infested with maggots.

The spore print is white.

Similar Species

Habitat and Hosts

Deciduous and coniferous forests, thickets, fields, and other grassy areas

Ecology

Season

Mid-July to early October in Minnesota