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Hygrophoropsis pallida (Peck) Kreisel
Phylum: Basidiomycota - Class: Agaricomycetes - Order: Boletales - Family: Hygrophoropsidaceae
Distribution - Taxonomic History - Etymology - Identification - Culinary Notes - Reference Sources

Hygrophoropsis pallida, a gilled boletoid
fungus, was until recently considered merely a variety of the False Chanterelle Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca; however, recent DNA studies have shown that is a distinct species.

Distribution
Although infrequently recorded in Britain and Ireland, this species may be more common than records suggest since it is easily confused with Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca.
Taxonomic history
When in 1902 American mycologist Charles Horton Peck (1833 - 1917) described this mushroom he gave it the scientific name Hygrophorus pallidus. Its currently-accepted scientific name Hygrophoropsis pallida dates from a 1960 publication by German mycologist Hanns Kreisel (1931 - 2017).
Synonyms of Hygrophoropsis pallida include Hygrophorus pallidus Peck. Some authorities consider this mushroom to be synonymous with Hygrophoropsis macrospora (D.A. Reid) Kuyper.
Etymology
The genus name Hygrophoropsis means
resembling Hygrophorus. (The suffix -opsis comes from Greek and means 'similar to'.) In shape it is true that woodwaxes (Hygrophorus species) and Hygrophoropsis pallida are somewhat similar, but woodwaxes have broad gills which are, as the name suggests, waxy. If you are unfamiliar with woodwaxes, Hygrophoropsis hypothejus, commonly called the Herald of Winter, is a typical example. The specific epithet pallida is a reference to the pale colouring (compared with other members of the genus) of the cap of Hygrophoropsis pallida.
Identification guide
 |
Cap
Cap diameter 1.5-5cm. Initially convex, caps usually expand to become either flat or shallow funnels, margins incurved and often wavy; surface finely tomentose. Cap colour is cream, ochre or buff, paler near the margin; the flesh beneath the cuticle is whitish and soft. |
 |
Gills
White or cream,
the irregular cross-veined wavy gills are forked and deeply decurrent. |
 |
Stem
Typically 1.5 to 5cm tall and 4 to 10mm in diameter, upper parts of the tough stems of Hygrophoropsis pallida are much the same
colour as the cap, while the stem base is often browner. |
 |
Spores
Ellipsoidal, smooth, thick-walled, 6-9.4 x 4-5μm; strongly dextrinoid.
Spore print
White. |
Odour/taste |
Not distinctive. |
Habitat & Ecological role |
Saprobic, most often found in marshy grassland with Juncus (rush) species. |
Season |
August to December in Britain and Ireland. |
Similar species |
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca has a yellow-orange cap and significantly larger thin-walled spores.
Hygrophoropsis rufa has an orange-brown tomentose cap and thick-walled spores.
Cantharellus
cibarius, a popular edible species found in woodland habitats, has wrinkled veins rather
than gills. |
Culinary Notes
Hygrophoropsis pallida is a rarely recorded species whose edibility is unknown to us.

Reference Sources
Fascinated by Fungi, 2nd Edition, Pat O'Reilly 2016, reprinted by Coch-y-bonddu Books in 2022.
Hygrophoropsis pallida (D.A. Reid) Knudsen, in Knudsen & Vesterholt, Funga Nordica, Agaricoid, Boletoid and Cyphelloid Genera (Gylling): 913 (2008)
Kibby, G. 2012. The Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca complex; Field Mycology 13: 43–50.
Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008
Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi.
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