This, like H. fuligineus, has a short white space at the top of the stem, free from the viscidity that exists elsewhere. It resembles in many respects Hygrophorus speciosus, which has the pileus red, fading to yellow with advancing age. Perhaps the three may yet prove to be forms of one very variable species, for the most conspicuous differences between them consist in the colors of the pileus. The constancy with which the three styles of coloration has thus far been maintained indicates a specific difference, but color alone is not generally regarded as having any specific value. Peck, 35th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Spores 6.4–7.6×4µ Peck.
I find this very good but its dirty pellicle should be peeled before using. Peck, in letter, 1896.
Mr. Hollis Webster writes of H. flavo-discus (Yellow Sweet Bread) in Bull. No. 45, of the Boston Mycological Club, 1897: “This is a mushroom worth going a long way to get. It is abundant in rich woods under pines in certain localities, and is a great favorite with those who know it. It is easily prepared and requires little cooking.”
I have eaten enjoyably of it since 1881.
Plentiful in the Jersey pines, in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and equal to any toadstool of its size.
Hygrophorus fuligineus.
About one-half natural size.
H. fuligi´neus Frost—resembling soot. Pileus convex or nearly plane, glabrous, very viscid or glutinous, grayish-brown or soot-color, the disk often darker or almost black. Gills subdistant, adnate or decurrent, white. Stem solid, viscid or glutinous, white or whitish. Spores elliptical, 7–9×5µ.