Golden Waxcap

Hygrocybe chlorophana (Fr.) Wünsche

1 Observations

2 years ago Last Observed

The Golden Waxcap (Hygrocybe chlorophana) is a bright lemon to golden-yellow waxcap that glows in short grass in autumn. Its cap is slimy when wet and finely lined at the edge, sometimes with an orange tint at the centre, and it never blackens. The gills are pale yellow and waxy. The slender yellow stem is also sticky and is often flattened or grooved, with tiny flecks near the top.

It grows in unimproved grassland, such as old pastures, lawns and cemeteries, and more rarely in woodland, from June into November. Like other waxcaps, it is a sign of old grassland that has escaped fertiliser and ploughing.

The Butter Waxcap (Hygrocybe ceracea) is smaller and has a dry stem, and the Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica) turns black with age. The Golden Waxcap is not worth eating, and waxcap grasslands are best enjoyed and recorded rather than picked.

Spore Print

Season

Native

unknown

Distribution

Widespread and common

Habitat

In unimproved grassland, lawns and cemeteries and more rarely in woodland

Etymology

Hygrocybe is from the Greek hygros, 'wet', and kybe, 'head', after the moist caps. chlorophana is from the Greek chloros, 'yellow-green', and phainein, 'to appear', after its yellow colour.

Cap

Slimy when wet, lemon to golden yellow, sometimes orange at the centre; does not blacken.

Colour
Shape	Convex, Flattened
Surface	Smooth, Viscid
Width	2 - 7 cm
Margin	Striate

Gills

Pale yellow and waxy.

Colour
Attachment	Adnexed

Flesh

The flesh is pale yellow, thin, brittle and fibrous, and breaks easily. The smell is not distinctive and the taste is mild.

Colour
Odour	Not distinctive
Taste	Mild

Stem

Slender, cylindrical to tapering, and bright yellow to orange-yellow. It is smooth to viscid when wet, often compressed or grooved, often with floccules near the apex.