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Orange-and-yellow waxcap
Hygrocybe sp. Genus
Angles captured. The most thoroughly worked specimen — ten frames, two from above and eight low-angle profiles circling the fruitbody as the light changed.
Morphology
Cap 3–4 cm, vivid orange at the centre grading to clear egg-yellow at the margin, smooth, slightly greasy-looking, plane to shallowly depressed with a faintly wavy margin. Stipe 4–5 cm, clear yellow, smooth, cylindrical, dry, hollow-looking. No ring. Gills not clearly visible in any frame.
Habitat & substrate
Oak litter and small woody debris on a slope in open beech-oak woodland. Solitary.
Lookalikes & what rules them out
The orange-to-yellow gradient and greasy cap are strongly waxcap-like. Cantharellus is excluded by the presence of a distinct cap and true gills rather than blunt ridges.
To confirm this identification
Gills again. Waxcaps have thick, waxy, widely spaced, often decurrent gills — unmistakable once seen. One underside photo would likely settle the genus.
Notes
Beautiful sequence, but ten frames from the same eye level. One shot from underneath would have been worth more than the other nine.
Found at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Worcester, MA on Saturday, 1 August 2026 at 19:19. See the full walk for that day's weather and everything else recorded.
Others in this group
Witch's butter on a mossy logTremella mesenterica · Nov 27High
Tiny orange mushrooms at a boulder baseUnidentified small orange agaric · Jul 31Low
Tiny orange mushrooms at a boulder base — revisitUnidentified small orange agaric · Aug 1Low
Small orange mushrooms on a rotting logUnidentified small orange agaric · Aug 6Low
Small orange mushroom on a log — upperUnidentified small orange agaric · Aug 6Low
Small orange mushroom on a log — lowerUnidentified small orange agaric · Aug 6Low
Orange waxcap troop at a boulderHygrocybe sp. · Aug 6Moderate
Orange lobed fungi in wintergreencf. Cantharellus · Aug 6Low