Herald of Winter
A fairly rare woodland Woodwax found mainly at the beginning of Winter or with the first frosts. Although edible this mushroom is uncommon and reportedly not of the best taste so we leave this one for photos and admiration. Hygrophorus translates as water bearer as it is a very wet mushroom, hypothejus as beneath, fire and brimstone, referring to the sulphur yellow gills and stem.
Scientific Name – Hygrophorus hypothejus
Common Names:
Herald of Winter, Cap Cwyr Tegyll Melyn (CY), Wodnicha Późna (PL), Fagyálló Csigagomba (HU)
Please note that each and every mushroom you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.
Cap
3-7 cm. Grey brown to olive brown, darker in the centre sometimes with yellow flushes. Starting convex with in-rolled edges becoming flatter and eventually, shallowly funnel shaped. Slimy to the touch.
Gills
Yellow, fairly widely spaced and decurrent, running down the stem.
Stem
5-7 cm long, 0.5-1.5 wide. Pale yellow becoming more intensely coloured after frosts. Can bruise orange where touched. Has a faint, ring zone.
Flesh
Off white to pale yellow bruising orange.
Habitat
With pine trees in coniferous and mixed woodland, generally with poor, sandy soil.
Possible Confusion
Could be confused with the Date Waxcap (Hygrocybe spadicea) but this grows on grassland, not in woods.
Other Facts
A woodwax of pine forests and mixed pine and broadleaf woodland, Hygrophorus hypothejus is a late-season species. It has a bright yellow stem and a distinct ring zone, and so you might expect to spot this mushroom without any difficulty; but looking down on caps that are various shades of brown and olive against a background of dead leaves and pine needles they are all too easy to miss. The trick is to stand still and look carefully at a smallish area of the forest floor before moving on and trying another. This uncommon to rare woodland mushroom is reported to be edible, but because of its relative rarity it is not generally gathered for its culinary value.
