Chrysomphalina aurantiaca
Acta Mycologica Sinica, Supplement 1: 299. 1986.
Common Name: none
Synonyms: Omphalia aurantiaca Peck; Omphalina luteicolor Murrill; Clitocybe luteicolor (Murrill) Bigelow & Smith
For descriptions see Bigelow (as O. luteicolor) & 'California Mushrooms'.
Gregarious to clustered on decayed conifer wood; fruiting from fall to winter in coastal forests, and in spring soon after snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges.
Unknown.
Chrysomphalina aurantiaca can be distinguished by fruitbodies that are orange to yellowish orange overall with a fibrillose-tufted cap, distant gills, and habit in clusters on decayed conifer logs at higher elevations. The orange color, somewhat waxy gills, and small stature are reminiscent of some Hygrocybe species, but they do not occur on conifer logs. Chrysomphalina chrysophylla is bi-colored, with brownish yellow cap and stipe, and yellow gills, while Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca is more robust with regularly forked gills.
Bigelow, H.E. (1970). Omphalina in North America. Mycologia 62(1): 1-32.
Bigelow, H.E. & Smith, A.H. (1962). Clitocybe species for the western United States. Mycologia 64: 498-515.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Redhead, S.A. (1986). Mycological observations, 17-20, nomenclatural notes on some Omphaloid genera in Canada, Chrysomphalina, Rickenella, Gerronema, Omphalina. Acta Mycologia Sinica Suppl. 1: 297-304. (PDF)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p. (PDF)