Hygrocybe punicea (Fries) Kumm.
Führ. Pilzk. 112. 1871.

Common Name: Scarlet Waxy Cap

Synonym: Hygrophorus puniceus

• Pileus

  Cap 4-12 cm broad, conical to convex when young, broadly convex to plane in age; margin incurved to decurved; surface glabrous, shiny, viscid to lubricous; color bright red to deep red, fading, usually in splotches to reddish-orange to orange; flesh thin, waxy; taste and odor indistinctive.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnexed to narrowly sinuate, subdistant to distant, waxy; color dark reddish orange to orangish yellow to peachy to yellow; margin smooth to eroded.

• Stipe

  Stipe 3-14 cm long, 0.5-2 cm thick, equal or narrowed at base; surface dry, typically strongly longitudinally striate; color yellow or red fading to orange or yellow, base white or occasionally yellow.

• Spores

  Spores 8-11 x 5-6 µm, smooth, nonamyloid, elliptical to narrowly elliptical. Spore print white.

• Habitat

  Solitary to scattered to gregarious in humus beneath coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and hardwoods during winter.

• Edibility

  Possibly edible, but least some people are adversely affected by it.

• Comments

  Hygrocybe punicea is one of our most beautiful and conspicuous waxy caps. It is most likely to be confused with Hygrocybe coccinea, which is smaller, has a dry to subviscid cap, and a red stipe with yellow base that lacks the longitudinal striations.

• 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.
  Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1991). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 3: Boletes and Agarics (1st Part). Strobilomycetaceae, Boletaceae, Paxillaceae, Gomphidiaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Tricholomataceae, Polyporaceae (lamellate). Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 361 p.
  Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 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.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe punicea (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe sp. (CP) — this unidentified Hygrocybe is one of the many species in the Hygrocybe punicia-coccinia complex in California
  • Mushroom Observer: Hygrocybe punicea (CP)
  • MushroomExpert.com: Hygrocybe punicea (D & CP)
  • Rogers Mushrooms: Hygrocybe punicea (D & CP)
  • Mushroom Hobby: Hygrocybe punicea (D & CP)
  • Wikipedia: Hygrocybe punicea (D & CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 114 (D), plate 21 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 45 (D & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 138 (D & CP)
  
  

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