Hygrocybe conica (Schaeff.: Fries) Kumm.
Führ. Pilzk. 111. 1871.

Photo: Just beginning to blacken.

Common Name: Witch's Hat

Synonym: Hygrophorus conicus

• Pileus

  Cap 2-9 cm broad, conic to occasionally convex, sharply umbonate, margin sometimes upturned at maturity; surface smooth to innately streaked, subviscid when moist, color variable: red, orange, yellow, to yellowish-green, bruising black and/or blackening in age; flesh thin, colored like the cap, blackening in age.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnexed to nearly free, close, thick, waxy, pallid at first, becoming yellowish-olive to yellow, bruising black.

• Stipe

  Stipe 5-10 cm tall, 0.5-1.0 cm thick, fragile, equal, moist to subviscid, twisted-striate, white at the base, yellow to orange above, blackening when bruised or in age; veil absent.

• Spores

  Spores 9-13 x 5.0-6.5 µm, smooth, elliptical, nonamyloid; spore print white.

• Habitat

  Solitary to scattered under conifers; in our area common under Monterey cypress and Coast Redwood; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Questionable. Not substantial enough to justify collecting for the table.

• Comments

  This member of the waxy cap group is recognized by its distinctly conic cap, yellow to scarlet fruiting body, all parts of which bruise or blacken in age. Occasionally one will encounter all black, still relatively fresh specimens in the field. The white spores, waxy gills and flesh serve to separate this fungus from unrelated red-colored mushrooms. Hygrocybe singeri is very similar, but has a distinctly viscid stipe. Another blackening species is Hygrocybe nigrescens, which is distinquished from H. conica by a typically redder and less conic shaped cap and an oak woodland habitat. Hygrocybe acutoconica is also similar but does not bruise black.

• References

  Bas, C., Kyper, T.W., Noordeloos, M.E. & Vellinga, E.C. (1990). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica -- Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occuring in the Netherlands. Volume 2. Pluteaceae, Tricholomataceae. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam, Netherlands. 137 p.
  Bird, C.J. & Grund, D.W. (1979). Nova Scotian Species of Hygrophorus. The Nova Scotia Museum: Nova Scotia. 131 p.
  Boertmann, D. (1996). The Genus Hygrocybe (Fungi of Northern Europe, Vol. 1). Danish Mycological Society: Copenhagen, Denmark. 184 p.
  Hesler, L.R. & Smith, A.H. (1963). North American Species of Hygrophorus. University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, TN. 416 p.
  Largent, D.L. (1985). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 5. Hygrophoraceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 208 p.
  Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p.
  Young, A.M. (2005). Fungi of Australia: Hygrophoraceae. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne, Australia. 179 p.
  

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Boom: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Terry Goyan: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica "group" (CP) -- this is probably H. nigrescens
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe conica "group" (CP) -- this is probably H. nigrescens
  • Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month: Hygrocybe conica (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Hygrocybe conica (D & CP)
  • Pilzgalerie.de: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • K. Maruyama: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Kinok-ya: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Jens H. Petersen: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Hygrocybe conica (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 116 (D), p. 117 (P), plate 19 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 44 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 3): sp. 85 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 134 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 658 (D), plates 71, 72 (CP) [Hygrophorous conicus]
  • McKenny et al.: p. 63 (D & CP)
  • Miller: sp. 31 (D & CP) [Hygrophorous conicus]
  • Phillips: p. 66 (CP), p. 67 (D) [Hygrophorous conicus]
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)