Hygrophorus sordidus

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Tricholomataceae > Hygrophorus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This mushroom goes out of its way to be boring. Similar medium-sized, white species of Hygrophorus have slime veils on their stems, or have distinctive odors, or develop shades of brown or pink on their caps with maturity, or have gills that turn pink, yellow, or brown . . . but Hygrophorus sordidus has none of these interesting features. Its cap and gills sometimes turn a dingy yellowish color when very old, but otherwise there is nothing notable about it. And don't get your hopes up for something interesting when you notice the epithet "sordidus"; Charles Peck, the fastidious little man who named the species in 1898, applied the name because the white cap is "usually defiled by adhering dirt."

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks; growing gregariously; summer and fall; fairly widely distributed in eastern North America's oak-hickory forests, and reported in California (but see note below).

Cap: 8-20 cm; convex when young, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; slimy; bald; white, sometimes developing a dingy yellowish center with age.

Gills: Attached to the stem or beginning to run down it; nearly distant; white, unchanging or becoming slightly yellowish with age.

Stem: 6-10 cm long; up to 3 cm thick; more or less equal above a tapered base; dry; smooth or finely hairy toward the apex; whitish, becoming a little brownish where handled.

Flesh: White; unchanging.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-8 x 4-5.5 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid. Gill tissue divergent, with cells 4-8 µ wide. Pileipellis a thick ixocutis with clamp connections present; upper zone of elements brownish in KOH.

REFERENCES: Peck, 1898. (Hesler & Smith, 1963; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Largent, 1985; Arora, 1986.) Herb. Kuo 10110901.

The California version of this species, reported by Arora (1986) and Largent (1985), grows under coast live oak and is more robust than the eastern version; it is probably a separate species.

Further Online Information:

Hygrophorus sordidus in Hesler & Smith (1963)

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2010, December). Hygrophorus sordidus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hygrophorus_sordidus.html