Species details
Butter waxcap
Hygrocybe ceracea
Traditionally edible
Photo: Daniel Seth Jackson · CC BY 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A small lemon- to yellow-orange waxcap with a waxy sticky cap and yellow stem.
Identification features
Cap about 2–4 cm wide, lemon- to egg-yellow or yellow-orange, waxy and sticky. Gills are pale yellow, broad and widely spaced. Stem is dry and lemon-yellow.
Identification checklist
Check the small lemon-yellow waxy sticky cap, widely spaced pale-yellow gills and dry yellow stem.
Detailed features
- Cap
- Cap about 2–4 cm wide, lemon- to egg-yellow or yellow-orange, waxy and sticky.
- Hymenophore
- The gills are pale yellow, broad and widely spaced.
- Stem
- Stem is dry and lemon-yellow.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 2–4 cm
Habitat
Grows on mossy meadows, pastures, lawns and woodland edges, mainly in autumn.
Fruiting period
September, October, November
Ecology
- Substrate
- Grassland
- Notes
- Grows on mossy meadows, pastures, lawns and woodland edges, mainly in autumn.
How to separate similar species
Hygrocybe glutinipes also has a distinctly slimy stem; H. chlorophana is usually larger.