Hygrocybe psittacina (Schaeff.: Fries) Kumm.
Führ. Pilzk. 112. 1871.

Common Name: Parrot Mushroom

Synonym: Hygrophorus psittacinus

• Pileus

  Cap 1.5-4 cm broad, convex when young, broadly convex to plane in age; color highly variable, bright green to dark green to olive green when young, changing to some shade of pink, yellow, or orange in age; surface glabrous, glutinous to viscid; flesh thin, waxy; taste and odor indistinctive.

• Lamellae

  Gill adnate to subdecurrent, sometime seceding; at first greenish, then changing color like the cap.

• Stipe

  Stipe 4-9 cm long, 3-5 mm broad at apex, equal or tapering, hollow; surface glabrous, viscid; greenish when young, changing to yellow, orange or pink, although apex may remain green.

• Spores

  Spores 8-10 x 5-6 µm, smooth, elliptical, nonamyloid. Spore print white.

• Habitat

  Solitary to scattered to gregarious in damp soil, moss, humus; most common under redwoods; November through January.

• Edibility

  Edible, but small and slimy.

• Comments

  Since it is our only green mushroom with a slimy cap and stipe, Hygrocybe psittacina is easy to identify when young and fresh. Older specimens are only slightly harder to identify. They are often multicolored with remnants of the green color left at the apex of the stipe.

• References

  Bas, C., Kyper, T.W., Noordeloos, M.E. & Vellinga, E.C. (1990). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica -- Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occuring in the Netherlands. Volume 2. Pluteaceae, Tricholomataceae. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam, Netherlands. 137 p.
  Bird, C.J. & Grund, D.W. (1979). Nova Scotian Species of Hygrophorus. The Nova Scotia Museum: Nova Scotia. 131 p.
  Boertmann, D. (1996). The Genus Hygrocybe (Fungi of Northern Europe, Vol. 1). Danish Mycological Society: Copenhagen, Denmark. 184 p.
  Hesler, L.R. & Smith, A.H. (1963). North American Species of Hygrophorus. University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, TN. 416 p.
  Largent, D.L. (1985). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 5. Hygrophoraceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 208 p.
  Smith, A.H. (1949). Mushrooms in their Natural Habitats. Sawyer's Inc: Portland, OR. 626 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Tom Duffy: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP) -- older sporocarps showing color change
  • Taylor F. Lockwood: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Taylor F. Lockwood: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Robert Mackler: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Robert Mackler: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP) -- older sporocarps showing color change
  • Hugh Smith: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Nathan Wilson: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Cercle de Mycologie de Mons: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Cercle de Mycologie de Mons: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Hygrocybe psittacina (D & CP)
  • Elias Fries' fungus plates: Hygrophorus psittacinus (I)
  • K. Maruyama: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Page perso de JJ.Wuilbaut: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • National Botanic Garden of Belgium: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Hygrocybe psittacina (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 188 (D), plate 18 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 46 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 3): sp. 98 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 138 (D & CP)
  • Largent (1985): p. 98 (D) [as Hygrophorus psitticinus]
  • Lincoff: p. 665 (D), plate 103 (CP) [as Hygrophorus psitticinus]
  • Miller: sp. 30 (D & CP) [as Hygrophorus psitticinus]
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)