Hygrophorus chrysodon

Pileus
Cap 3-7 cm broad, convex to plano-convex, often with a low umbo; margin inrolled at first, hairy with yellowish granules; surface viscid when moist, white with scattered yellow granules, the latter concentrated at the disc; flesh thick, soft, white.

Lamellae
Gills decurrent, distant, waxy, white, sometimes with scattered yellow edges.

Stipe
Stipe 2.5-7.0 cm tall, 0.5-1.3 cm thick, equal, viscid, yellow above from adhering yellow granules, white below.

Spores
Spores 8-10 x 4-5 microns, elliptical, smooth. Spore print white.

Habitat
Solitary, scattered to gregarious in mixed hardwood-conifer woods; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.

Edibility
Edible according to the literature, but untried locally.

Comments
Sporting a white, viscid cap decorated with yellow granules, Hygrophorus chrysodon is one of our prettiest and easiest to recognize mid-winter mushrooms. For the beginning mushroomer, the widely spaced, waxy, white decurrent gills and white spores will help to identify this mushroom as belonging to the genus Hygrophorus. The distinctive yellow granules may weather away in age, especially those on the cap, but usually persist on the stipe apex.