Hygrophorus bakerensis
Encyclopedia
Hygrophorus bakerensis, commonly
known as the Mt. Baker waxy cap, the brown almond waxy cap or the tawny almond waxy cap, is a species of fungus
in the Hygrophoraceae
family. It is characterized by its medium to large, relatively slender-statured fruit bodies
with an almond odor, and growth often on or near rotting conifer wood. The slimy cap
is brown in the center and cream to white near its curved edges. The gills and the stem
are white, and in moist environments are often covered with droplets of a translucent liquid. The mushroom is known only from the United States, where it is common in coniferous forests throughout the Pacific Northwest
. It was initially collected in Washington State on Mount Baker
, a volcano. Although edible
, the mushroom is not considered to be of high quality.
scientifically by American mycologists Alexander H. Smith
and Lexemuel Ray Hesler
in a 1942 publication. The specific epithet bakerensis refers to Mount Baker
, a volcano in the North Cascades
of Washington State in the United States, where the mushroom was first collected. It is commonly
known by various names, including the "Mt. Baker waxy cap", the "brown almond waxy cap", and the "tawny almond waxy cap".
of H. bakerensis have rounded cap
s with cottony margins that are rolled inward; as the mushrooms mature the caps flatten out and the margins may lift upward. The diameter of the cap reaches between 4 and 15 cm (1.6 and 5.9 in). The center of the cap is colored yellow-brown, tawny
or amber
, reducing to nearly white at the margin. The cap surface is slimy when wet, and sticky as it gets older and dries out. Beneath the slime layer are hairs that are plastered tightly to the surface, which clump together a few at a time to form many little streaks. The firm white flesh
of the cap is thick—1 centimetre (0.393700787401575 in) near the stem attachment—and tapers evenly to the margin. It does not change color when cut or bruised. It has a mild taste and a characteristic fragrant odor that resembles almond
s, or "crushed peach pits". The waxy gills are decurrent
or bluntly attached
to the stem. The gill spacing is close to subdistant—between 56–88 individual gills reach the stem, with 2–3 tiers of short lamellulae (shorter gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stem). The gills have even edges, and are narrow but become broad in large caps (8–12 mm), ranging in color from creamy white to pinkish-buff. They do not discolor when they are bruised. Young specimens often have drops of a clear liquid beaded on the gills. The gills of dried specimens darken considerably. The stem
is 7 to 14 cm (2.8 to 5.5 in) long, 0.8 to 2.5 cm (0.31496062992126 to 0.984251968503937 in) thick at the apex, solid (i.e., not hollow), and either equal in width throughout or narrowed downward. Its color is white to pale pinkish-buff, with a dry surface. The top portion of young specimens have a cottony, fine whitish powder near the top, but this sloughs off as it matures. Like the gills, the top of the stem is often beaded with drops of translucent liquid in moist weather.
The spores
are ellipsoid, smooth, and measure 7–9 by 4.5–5 µm
. They are yellowish when stained with Melzer's reagent
. The basidia (spore-bearing cells in the hymenium
) are four-spored, and measure 40–54 by 6–8 µm. There are no cystidia on the gill faces or edges. The cap cuticle
is a ixotrichoderm—a layer of gelatinized tissue where the distal portion of the filamentous hypha
e are different lengths and the hyphae themselves are arranged perpendicular to the surface; this layer of gelatinous hyphae is between 100 and 250 µm thick. Clamp connection
s are present in the hyphae of the cuticle and the gill tissue.
, but considered "low-quality". Smith does not recommend the mushroom for consumption, noting "I have been informed by a number of collectors that the species is edible, but many of them thought it was a Clitocybe or a Tricholoma!".
. H. tennesseensis is another lookalike species, but has a farinaceous odor (like raw potatoes) and a bitter taste. H. arbustivus is a European species found under oak
s. The "clay waxy cap" (H. discoideus) is another lookalike European species; there is a North American equivalent H. discoideus var. californius found at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada. Other North American species of Hygrophorus with an odor of almonds include H. agathosmus
(which has a gray cap), H. monticola (larger spores), and H. vinicolor (which has larger spores and an unpleasant taste). Collybia oregonensis has a similar coloration and odor, but has adnexed or notched and non-waxy gills.
plant by forming a sheath around their root tips. In this way, the fungus gains carbon and other essential organic substances from the tree and in return helps the trees take up water, mineral salts and metabolites. It can also fight off parasites and predators such as nematode
s and soil pathogen
s. Associated tree species include Douglas-fir
. The fruit bodies of H. bakerensis grow scattered, clustered, or in groups on the forest floor under conifers. They are common at elevations of 1000 foot throughout the Pacific Northwest
region of the United States and the northern Rocky Mountains
, and have been collected from California
, Idaho
, Washington, and Oregon
. It has been found as far north as Hazelton, British Columbia
east to Quebec
, Canada. Fruit bodies typically appear from September to December, and they can be very common.
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
known as the Mt. Baker waxy cap, the brown almond waxy cap or the tawny almond waxy cap, is a species of fungus
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
in the Hygrophoraceae
Hygrophoraceae
The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics , including Hygrophorus and Hygrocybe species , DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so that it now contains not only agarics but also...
family. It is characterized by its medium to large, relatively slender-statured fruit bodies
Basidiocarp
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome or basidioma , is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures...
with an almond odor, and growth often on or near rotting conifer wood. The slimy cap
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
is brown in the center and cream to white near its curved edges. The gills and the stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
are white, and in moist environments are often covered with droplets of a translucent liquid. The mushroom is known only from the United States, where it is common in coniferous forests throughout the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. It was initially collected in Washington State on Mount Baker
Mount Baker
Mount Baker , also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens...
, a volcano. Although edible
Edible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
, the mushroom is not considered to be of high quality.
Taxonomy and naming
The species was first describedSpecies description
A species description or type description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species which have been described previously, or are...
scientifically by American mycologists Alexander H. Smith
Alexander H. Smith
Alexander Hanchett Smith was an American mycologist known for his extensive contributions to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the higher fungi, especially the agarics.-Early life:...
and Lexemuel Ray Hesler
Lexemuel Ray Hesler
-External links:* Finding Aid for the Lexemuel Ray Hesler Collection, 1899-1982...
in a 1942 publication. The specific epithet bakerensis refers to Mount Baker
Mount Baker
Mount Baker , also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens...
, a volcano in the North Cascades
North Cascades
The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in Canada as the Cascade Mountains...
of Washington State in the United States, where the mushroom was first collected. It is commonly
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
known by various names, including the "Mt. Baker waxy cap", the "brown almond waxy cap", and the "tawny almond waxy cap".
Description
Young fruit bodiesBasidiocarp
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome or basidioma , is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures...
of H. bakerensis have rounded cap
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
s with cottony margins that are rolled inward; as the mushrooms mature the caps flatten out and the margins may lift upward. The diameter of the cap reaches between 4 and 15 cm (1.6 and 5.9 in). The center of the cap is colored yellow-brown, tawny
Tawny (color)
Tawny is a yellowish brown color. The word means "tan-colored," from Anglo-Norman tauné "associated with the brownish-yellow of tanned leather," from Old French tané "to tan hides," from Medieval Latin tannare, from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source...
or amber
Amber (color)
Amber is an orange-yellow color that got its name from the material known as amber. Due to this, amber can refer not to one but to a series of shades of orange, since the natural material varies from nearly yellow when newer to orange or reddish-orange when older.-Amber:Amber is a pure chroma color...
, reducing to nearly white at the margin. The cap surface is slimy when wet, and sticky as it gets older and dries out. Beneath the slime layer are hairs that are plastered tightly to the surface, which clump together a few at a time to form many little streaks. The firm white flesh
Trama (mycology)
In mycology trama is a term for the inner, fleshy portion of a mushroom's basidiocarp, or fruit body. It is distinct from the outer layer of tissue, known as the pileipellis or cuticle, and from the spore-bearing tissue layer known as the hymenium....
of the cap is thick—1 centimetre (0.393700787401575 in) near the stem attachment—and tapers evenly to the margin. It does not change color when cut or bruised. It has a mild taste and a characteristic fragrant odor that resembles almond
Almond
The almond , is a species of tree native to the Middle East and South Asia. Almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree...
s, or "crushed peach pits". The waxy gills are decurrent
Decurrent
Decurrent is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward.In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petiole and extend down along the stem...
or bluntly attached
Adnation
Adnation in plants is the "union of unlike parts; organically united or fused with another dissimilar part, e.g. an ovary to a calyx tube, or stamens to petals". This is in contrast to connation, the fusion of similar organs....
to the stem. The gill spacing is close to subdistant—between 56–88 individual gills reach the stem, with 2–3 tiers of short lamellulae (shorter gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stem). The gills have even edges, and are narrow but become broad in large caps (8–12 mm), ranging in color from creamy white to pinkish-buff. They do not discolor when they are bruised. Young specimens often have drops of a clear liquid beaded on the gills. The gills of dried specimens darken considerably. The stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
is 7 to 14 cm (2.8 to 5.5 in) long, 0.8 to 2.5 cm (0.31496062992126 to 0.984251968503937 in) thick at the apex, solid (i.e., not hollow), and either equal in width throughout or narrowed downward. Its color is white to pale pinkish-buff, with a dry surface. The top portion of young specimens have a cottony, fine whitish powder near the top, but this sloughs off as it matures. Like the gills, the top of the stem is often beaded with drops of translucent liquid in moist weather.
The spores
Basidiospore
A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia. In grills under a cap of one common species in the phylum of...
are ellipsoid, smooth, and measure 7–9 by 4.5–5 µm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
. They are yellowish when stained with Melzer's reagent
Melzer's Reagent
Melzer's reagent is a chemical reagent used by mycologists to assist with the identification of fungi.-Composition:...
. The basidia (spore-bearing cells in the hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
) are four-spored, and measure 40–54 by 6–8 µm. There are no cystidia on the gill faces or edges. The cap cuticle
Pileipellis
thumb|300px||right|The cuticle of some mushrooms, such as [[Russula mustelina]] shown here, can be peeled from the cap, and may be useful as an identification feature....
is a ixotrichoderm—a layer of gelatinized tissue where the distal portion of the filamentous hypha
Hypha
A hypha is a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus, and also of unrelated Actinobacteria. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium; yeasts are unicellular fungi that do not grow as hyphae.-Structure:A hypha consists of one or...
e are different lengths and the hyphae themselves are arranged perpendicular to the surface; this layer of gelatinous hyphae is between 100 and 250 µm thick. Clamp connection
Clamp connection
A clamp connection is a structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is created to ensure each septum, or segment of hypha separated by crossed walls, receives a set of differing nuclei, which are obtained through mating of hyphae of differing sexual types...
s are present in the hyphae of the cuticle and the gill tissue.
Edibility
The mushroom is edibleEdible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
, but considered "low-quality". Smith does not recommend the mushroom for consumption, noting "I have been informed by a number of collectors that the species is edible, but many of them thought it was a Clitocybe or a Tricholoma!".
Similar species
Hygrophorus variicolor is very similar in overall appearance, differing only in having a stem made slimy by a gelatinous partial veilPartial veil
thumb|150px|right|Developmental stages of [[Agaricus campestris]] showing the role and evolution of a partial veilPartial veil is a mycological term used to describe a temporary structure of tissue found on the fruiting bodies of some basidiomycete fungi, typically agarics...
. H. tennesseensis is another lookalike species, but has a farinaceous odor (like raw potatoes) and a bitter taste. H. arbustivus is a European species found under oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s. The "clay waxy cap" (H. discoideus) is another lookalike European species; there is a North American equivalent H. discoideus var. californius found at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada. Other North American species of Hygrophorus with an odor of almonds include H. agathosmus
Hygrophorus agathosmus
Hygrophorus agathosmus, commonly known as the gray almond waxy cap or the almond woodwax, is a species of fungus in the Hygrophoraceae family. It was first described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1815; Fries gave it its current name in 1838...
(which has a gray cap), H. monticola (larger spores), and H. vinicolor (which has larger spores and an unpleasant taste). Collybia oregonensis has a similar coloration and odor, but has adnexed or notched and non-waxy gills.
Habitat and distribution
Hygrophorus bakerensis is an ectomycorrhizal species, and forms a mutualistic relationship with compatible hostHost (biology)
In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna...
plant by forming a sheath around their root tips. In this way, the fungus gains carbon and other essential organic substances from the tree and in return helps the trees take up water, mineral salts and metabolites. It can also fight off parasites and predators such as nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
s and soil pathogen
Pathogen
A pathogen gignomai "I give birth to") or infectious agent — colloquially, a germ — is a microbe or microorganism such as a virus, bacterium, prion, or fungus that causes disease in its animal or plant host...
s. Associated tree species include Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
. The fruit bodies of H. bakerensis grow scattered, clustered, or in groups on the forest floor under conifers. They are common at elevations of 1000 foot throughout the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
region of the United States and the northern Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, and have been collected from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Washington, and Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. It has been found as far north as Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...
east to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada. Fruit bodies typically appear from September to December, and they can be very common.