Hygrophorus agathosmus    (Fr.) Fr. 

common name(s) : Almond Woodwax, Scented Wax Cap 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Agaricales/Hygrophoraceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Tricholomatales [sub-genus:Neocamarophyllus section:Neocamarophyllus ]  
(unconfirmed synonyms: Limacium agathosmus, Limacium agathosmum)  

edibility : discard

potential confusions with Hygrophorus agathosmus toxicity of Hygrophorus agathosmus genus Hygrophorus  

The cap is pearl-grey to grey-brown, sometimes violet or white. The cap surface is smooth, viscid or sticky.

The stem is white, spotted with brown, without ring.

The flesh is white, unchanging; the odour is of bitter almonds or cherry laurel; its texture is fibrous.

The gills are decurrent, distant . The spore print is white. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in damp and mossy places, edges of coniferous woods, on a rather calcareous soil, most of the time with spruce, also with larch.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 6 cm (between 2 and 10 cm)
  height of stem approximately 7 cm (between 2.5 and 11 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 13 mm (between 5 and 20 mm)

Distinctive features : grey-buff to grey-brown, slimy to sticky cap; white stem, grainy at the apex; white flesh; strong odour of bitter almonds or cherry laurel

Hygrophorus agathosmus is still unreported so far in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking .



page updated on 14/01/18