Species details
March mushroom
Hygrophorus marzuolus
Extra caution required
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Description
An early-spring grey-white waxcap with a thick fleshy cap, often hidden under leaves or snow.
Identification features
Gills are thick, widely spaced, and decurrent; the cap darkens grey to blackish with age.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. An early-spring grey-white waxcap with a thick fleshy cap, often hidden under leaves or snow. Gills are thick, widely spaced, and decurrent; the cap darkens grey to blackish with age. Typical habitat: Mountain conifer and mixed woodland, especially under fir, spruce, and beech.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 4–10 cm, whitish to ash-grey, thick-fleshed, smooth and dry; initially hemispherical, later flattened and sometimes slightly depressed when old.
- Hymenophore
- Gills white, thick and distinctly spaced; older specimens become greyish and somewhat decurrent.
- Stem
- 4–8 × 1–2 cm, white, solid, smooth and fleshy, often slightly curved.
- Flesh
- White, thick and brittle; greyish beneath the cap skin.
- Smell
- Indistinct; larger quantities of old fruitbodies may smell unpleasant.
- Spore print
- White.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 4–10 cm
- Stem height
- 4–8 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1–2 cm
Habitat
Mountain conifer and mixed woodland, especially under fir, spruce, and beech.
Fruiting period
February, March, April, May
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Spruce (Picea), Beech (Fagus)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- A mycorrhizal woodland species appearing very early in spring, often soon after snowmelt; known from spruce and beech stands.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Hygrophorus camarophyllus, Hygrophorus agathosmus. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Arched woodwax (Hygrophorus camarophyllus)
Fruits later in the season and is usually darker grey-brown; the March waxycap is characteristically early spring.
- Almond woodwax (Hygrophorus agathosmus)
Often has a characteristic almond or marzipan smell and is more strongly associated with conifers.