Hygrophoraceae Near Sydney

This is a visual guide to members of the family Hygrophoraceae that can be found in the Greater Sydney Region. This includes the Blue Mountains. All of these are known as waxcaps since they have waxy caps. They also all have thick gills and are often brightly coloured. They all have white coloured spores.

Acknowledgement - I would like to thank Ray and Elma Kearney of the Sydney Fungal Studies Group for showing me many of these wonderful fungi and for helping with features to help with species identification.

Genera -

• Cuphophyllus
• Gliophorus
• Humicutis
• Hygrocybe
• Hygrophorus
• Porpolomopsis

Cuphophyllus

Cuphophyllus virgineus

Gliophorus

Gliophorus chromolimoneus

• Bright yellow

Recorded - Govetts Ck, Grose Valley, 25 May 2015

Recorded - Bola Ck, 4 Jun 2015

Gliophorus graminicolor

• The edge of the lamella have a viscous, translucent line
• Gills often bifurcated at the rim and slightly decurrent
• White-pale green gills
  
  

Gliophorus irrigatus

•  Viscid
  

Gliophorus psitacinus var. psittacinus

Gliophorus viscidibrunnea

• Very similar to Hygrocybe batesii in appearance, but no green tinge. More of a tan colour
• Viscid
  

Humidicutis

Humidicutis cheelii

• Mauve-pink cap
• Dry
• Decurrent gills
• Stipe has a yellowish base
  
  

Humidicutis helicoides

Humidicutis taekeri

Humidicutis viridimagentea

Hygrocybe

Hygrocybe anomola var anomola

• Yellow- orange caps
• Red - orange stipes
• Gills can be decurrent
  

Hygrocybe anomola var ianthinmarginata

• Yellow- orange caps
• Red - orange stipes
• Gills can be decurrent
• Have a mauve tinge on the gills and lower edge of the cap. This is more pronounced in young specimens
  

Hygrocybe apricosa

• Similar to Hygrocybe aurantiopallens, but can be distinguished by -
  
• Bright Orange
• Greasy
• Tend to have short, thick stipes
  
  

Hygrocybe arcohastata

• Change colour as they age - olive green - red - orange - yellow

Recorded LCBP, 22 June 2015

Recorded - LCBP, 18 June 2015

Hygrocybe astatogala

• Distinguished by having black flecks on the cap and stipe
• Darken as they age, or by bruising
  
  

Hygrocybe aurantiopallens

• Like Hygrocybe apricosa, but often has a pale cap and taller, thin stipe
  

Hygrocybe aurantipes

• Green cap
• Orange to orange/yellow stipe
  

Recorded - Bola Ck, 27 June 2015

Hygrocybe austropratensis

• Can be quite large
• Dry
• Pale stipe
• Orange cap

Hygrocybe badioclavata

Hygrocybe batesii

• Some mycologists class this as H graminicolor
• Start off greenish and change to brown
• Have slight green colour in the stipe
  

Hygrocybe bolensis

• Thick stipe near cap
  
• Yellow at base of stipe
  

Hygrocybe cantherellus

• Like Hygrocybe miniata but with decurrent gills
  

Hygrocybe cerasinomutata

Hygrocybe collucera

• Golden yellow gills

Hygrocybe erythrocala

• Shiny bright red caps when young
• Can change to orange as they age

Hygrocybe erythrocrenata

• Have crenulated edge to the cap
• Red - fading to yellowish
• Decurrent gills, they range in colour from yellow-white to pale red-grey
  

Recorded - LCBP, 12 Jun 2015

Recorded - LCBP, 12 Jun 2015

Hygrocybe griseoramosa

• Grey colour gills that branch
  
• Brownish/Grey cap
  
  

Recorded - Bola Ck, 27 June 2015

Hygrocybe hypospoda

Hygrocybe iropus

Hygrocybe kula

• Has a translucent-striate, even pilial margin, cream gills
• Tends to have a distinctly yellow stipe base

Hygrocybe lanecovensis

• Very decurrent gills
  

Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata

Hygrocybe mavis

• Looks a bit like Porpolomopsis lewelliniae, with a splitting cap, but white in colour
  

Recorded - Sassafras Gully, 11 Jun 2015

Hygrocybe miniata

• Red, rough surface to cap
• Pale, pinkish - orange coloured gills

Hygrocybe persistens var konradii

Hygrocybe polychroma

Hygrocybe pseudograminicolor

• Like Hygrocybe graminicolor but with yellow in the cap
• Has yellow-green gills
  
  

Hygrocybe reesiae

Hygrocybe roseoflavida

Hygrocybe rubronivea

• White gills

Hygrocybe stevensoniae

• Stipe can be yellow or green
• Very dark green cap with a fibrillated surface
• The edge of the lamella does not have the viscous, translucent line as does H. graminicolor
• Gills not decurrent
• Gills do not bifurcate near the rim

Hygrocybe xanthopoda

These are only possible specimens -

Hygrophorus

Hygrophorus involutus

• Droplets of water on stipe
  

Porpolomopsis

Porpolomopsis lewelliniae

• Cap splits along gills (not between them)