Parrot waxcap or Verdigris agaric
Parrot waxcap and Verdigris agaric are similar species that can be mixed up while foraging. The main visible difference: ring (veil): Parrot waxcap — no ring, Verdigris agaric — ring present. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: smell.
Not sure? Identify by photoSide by side
| Characteristic | Parrot waxcap | Verdigris agaric |
|---|---|---|
| Cap colour | Parrot waxcap: Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink | Verdigris agaric: Olive, Yellow |
| Cap shape | Parrot waxcap: Convex, Umbonate | Verdigris agaric: Convex |
| Smell | Parrot waxcap: Odourless, Earthy | Verdigris agaric: Radish-like |
| Ring (veil) | Parrot waxcap: No ring | Verdigris agaric: Ring present |
| Substrate | Parrot waxcap: Soil, Moss | Verdigris agaric: Forest litter, Dead wood, Soil |
| Nutrition type | Parrot waxcap: — | Verdigris agaric: Saprotroph |
| Partner trees | Parrot waxcap: — | Verdigris agaric: Oak, Beech |
Same in both: edibility class, season, use, size, cap surface, taste, flesh colour change, hymenophore, stem, growth habit.
When and where they meet
Together: September–November
What they look like
Cap, Hymenophore, Stem, Flesh, Smell
Cap
Parrot waxcap
The cap is 1.5 to 4 cm across, occasionally up to 5 cm. It starts bell-shaped or hemispherical, then becomes convex and flattened, often with a low, broad bump. The margin is finely lined when wet.
The surface is coated in thick, glossy slime. Young caps are bright or dark green; the green fades from the centre outwards, leaving the cap yellow, orange-yellow, pinkish or even greyish.
Verdigris agaric
The cap is 3-8 cm across, convex to bell-shaped with an inrolled margin when young, becoming flat and spread out with a low hump. The skin is slimy and sticky in wet weather, dry and matte when dry, with a characteristic metallic sheen. It's a striking blue-green to bluish green, deeper in the centre and paler toward the margin, fading to yellowish green in older mushrooms. The margin often carries white scales, remnants of the veil.
Hymenophore
Parrot waxcap
The gills are thick, broad, waxy and widely spaced, narrowly attached to the stem. They're greenish near the stem and yellow towards the cap edge, losing the green with age.
The spore print is white.
Verdigris agaric
The gills are attached or slightly decurrent and crowded, greyish white when young and turning violet-blackish with age as the spores ripen. The spore print is dark violet-black, diagnostic for the genus Stropharia.
Stem
Parrot waxcap
The stem is 2 to 7 cm tall and 3 to 8 mm thick, smooth and slimy, with no ring. It's green at the top and yellow to orange-yellow below. It yellows with age, but the green at the top persists even on old specimens, which makes it the best feature to check.
Verdigris agaric
The stem is 3-8 cm tall and 0.5-1 cm thick, cylindrical, becoming hollow in old mushrooms. It's blue-green at the top, paler and whitish lower down, and slimy and sticky, with white cottony veil remnants. There's a prominent membranous RING in the upper third of the stem, often with purple-black spore deposits on it.
Flesh
Parrot waxcap
The flesh is thin and whitish, sometimes with yellow or green spots.
Verdigris agaric
The flesh is thin, brittle and pale greenish white, and doesn't change colour when cut. The smell is faint and mushroomy, with a hint of radish or damp soil; the taste is mild, bitterish in some populations.
Smell
Parrot waxcap
The smell is faint, sometimes earthy.
Verdigris agaric
Faint and mushroomy, with a hint of radish or damp soil; otherwise neutral.
Related comparisons
Sources · 18
- [1]Index Fungorum
- [2]GBIF
- [3]Wikipedia (English)
- [4]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [5]Википедия (русская)
- [6]First Nature: Gliophorus psittacinus, Parrot Waxcap
- [7]Wild Food UK: Parrot Waxcap
- [8]Kuo M., MushroomExpert: Gliophorus psittacinus
- [9]JNCC: Guidelines for the Selection of Biological SSSIs, Chapter 14 Non-lichenised fungi (Bosanquet et al. 2018), Bosanquet S. et al. (2018)
- [10]Ainsworth A.M., Cannon P.F., Dentinger B.T.M. DNA barcoding and morphological studies reveal two new species of waxcap mushrooms (Hygrophoraceae) in Britain. MycoKeys, 2013, 7: 45–62, Ainsworth A.M. et al. (2013)
- [11]Halbwachs H. et al. Hyphae of waxcap fungi colonise plant roots. Fungal Ecology, 2013, 6(6): 487–492, Halbwachs H. et al. (2013)
- [12]Gartz J. Nachweis von Tryptaminderivaten in Pilzen der Gattungen Gerronema, Hygrocybe, Psathyrella und Inocybe. Biochem. Physiol. Pflanzen, 1986, 181: 275–278, Gartz J. (1986)
- [13]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)
- [14]GBIF: знахідки Gliophorus psittacinus в Україні
- [15]Wikigrib: Гигрофор попугай
- [16]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [17]MycoBank Database
- [18]iNaturalist Ukraine