Oak woodwax or Meadow waxcap
Oak woodwax and Meadow waxcap are similar species that can be mixed up while foraging. The main visible difference: smell: Oak woodwax — floury, Meadow waxcap — odourless.
Not sure? Identify by photoSide by side
| Characteristic | Oak woodwax | Meadow waxcap |
|---|---|---|
| Season | Oak woodwax: Autumn | Meadow waxcap: Autumn, Winter |
| Use | Oak woodwax: Cook fresh, Drying, Pickling, Salting | Meadow waxcap: Cook fresh |
| Cap colour | Oak woodwax: Orange, Red, Brown | Meadow waxcap: Orange, Cream, Brown |
| Cap shape | Oak woodwax: Convex | Meadow waxcap: Convex, Flat, Umbonate |
| Cap surface | Oak woodwax: Smooth | Meadow waxcap: Dry, Smooth |
| Smell | Oak woodwax: Floury | Meadow waxcap: Odourless |
| Stem | Oak woodwax: Central | Meadow waxcap: Central, Solid, Hollow |
| Nutrition type | Oak woodwax: Mycorrhizal | Meadow waxcap: — |
| Partner trees | Oak woodwax: Oak | Meadow waxcap: — |
| Growth habit | Oak woodwax: In groups | Meadow waxcap: Solitary, In groups, In rings |
Same in both: edibility class, size, taste, flesh colour change, hymenophore, substrate.
When and where they meet
Together: August–December
What they look like
Cap, Hymenophore, Stem, Flesh, Smell
Cap
Oak woodwax
The cap is 4-10 cm, hemispherical at first, then flattening out with a broad umbo. It's orange-reddish or brick-orange, darker at the centre. The surface is smooth and dry, or slightly slimy in wet weather. The margin is thin and often split in mature mushrooms.
Meadow waxcap
The cap is 2 to 8 cm across, up to 10 to 12 cm in large specimens. It starts convex, then flattens, often with a broad bump or a slightly sunken centre, and has a thin margin. The surface is dry and matt, smooth or with faint flattened fibres, slightly slippery in wet weather, and may crack with age.
The colour is pale salmon, apricot, orange-buff or brownish orange, fading to pale buff with age. A rare form is entirely white.
Hymenophore
Oak woodwax
The gills are widely spaced, thick and decurrent, a typical feature of the genus Hygrophorus. They're white or cream at first, taking on a yellowish or pinkish tint with age. Spore print white.
Meadow waxcap
The gills are thick, broad, widely spaced, waxy to the touch and clearly decurrent, often running more than a centimetre down the stem. Many shorter gills sit between them, and older caps develop cross-veins. They start whitish or cream and later take on the cap colour.
The spore print is white. These thick, distant, decurrent gills are the best way to tell it from its lookalikes.
Stem
Oak woodwax
The stem is 4-8 cm tall and 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical and slightly tapering toward the base. It's white or cream, pinkish at the top, with a dry surface and a fine white mealy coating near the top. No ring.
Meadow waxcap
The stem is 3 to 8 cm tall and 0.5 to 1.5 cm thick, sturdy, solid and later hollow, tapering towards the base. It's white or cream, tinged with the cap colour at the top, and always paler than the cap. There's no ring or volva.
Flesh
Oak woodwax
The flesh is white and firm, thick at the centre of the cap, and doesn't change colour when cut. It's springy rather than watery, which makes it good for cooking.
Meadow waxcap
The flesh is thick in the cap, whitish, pale orange or pinkish buff, and doesn't change colour when cut.
Smell
Oak woodwax
A distinct mealy smell, which helps with identification. The taste is mild and pleasantly mushroomy, with a barely noticeable fresh, mealy note.
Meadow waxcap
The smell and taste aren't distinctive. There's no mealy smell, unlike the oak woodwax.
Related comparisons
Sources · 18
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine
- [7]Wikipedia (English)
- [8]First Nature: Cuphophyllus pratensis, Meadow Waxcap
- [9]First Nature: Hygrophorus nemoreus, Oak Woodwax
- [10]Kuo M., MushroomExpert: Cuphophyllus pratensis
- [11]Plantlife: UK Waxcap ID guide, 2024
- [12]Galloway Wild Foods: Waxcap fungi
- [13]Wikipedia (en): Waxcap grassland
- [14]Wikipedia (de): Orangefarbener Wiesen-Ellerling
- [15]Wikigrib: Гигрофор луговой
- [16]Chvikov V., Prylutskyi O. Annotated checklist of Hygrophoraceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycota) of Ukraine. Biodiversity, Ecology and Experimental Biology, 2020, 22(2): 6–23, Chvikov V., Prylutskyi O. (2020)
- [17]Halbwachs H. et al. Isotopic evidence of biotrophy and unusual nitrogen nutrition in soil-dwelling Hygrophoraceae. Environmental Microbiology, 2018, Halbwachs H. et al. (2018)
- [18]GBIF: знахідки Cuphophyllus pratensis в Україні