E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Summary:
Features of Chrysomphalina aurantiaca include small size, uniform orange color in cap, flesh, and stem, moist hygrophanous cap with margin that is coated with tiny whitish hairs when young, waxy-appearing gills, growth on rotting conifers in groups or clusters, and white to pale yellow spore deposit.

Collections were examined from WA, OR, ID, CA, (Bigelow). It also occurs in BC and MI, (Bessette). Collections were examined from BC and WA, (Redhead(38)).

Cap:
(0.7)1-3cm across, flat with margin inrolled and decurved [downcurved] at first, "becoming horizontal and finally often elevated", "disc flat or shallowly depressed"; hygrophanous, orange when moist, paler when faded, yellowish to whitish when old; moist, fibrillose, fibrils often erect but finally appressed, margin striate, (Bigelow), 1-4cm across, broadly convex to nearly flat, often slightly depressed, margin incurved when young becoming wavy and often uplifted when old; hygrophanous, "orange when young, fading to orange-yellow then yellow"; silky-fibrillose becoming nearly smooth, moist when fresh, margin coated with tiny white hairs that disappear by maturity, (Bessette)

Flesh:
thin; colored as cap and fading with it; stem interior whitish, (Bigelow), orange to orange-yellow fading to yellow, (Bessette)

Gills:
adnate or short-decurrent at first, "finally moderately decurrent (unevenly), distant, narrow, arched, forked", usually interveined, rather waxy-appearing; orange to orange buff; edges even and straight, (Bigelow), "adnate to slightly decurrent when young", becoming decurrent when old, "distant, narrow, arched, often forked", several tiers of attenuate subgills; "orange to orange-yellow, fading to pale yellow"; typically waxy appearing, (Bessette)

Stem:
1-2cm x 0.15-0.25cm, "equal or slightly enlarged at either end, central, usually curved, solid-stuffed"; pale orange or yellowish orange; moist, bald, (Bigelow), 1-3cm x 0.15-0.5cm, "equal or tapering at either end", solid becoming stuffed and often hollow when old; "orange to orange-yellow when young, fading to yellow at maturity"; "sometimes coated with whitish basal mycelium", (Bessette)

Odor:
not distinct (Bigelow, Bessette)

Taste:
not distinct (Bigelow, Bessette)

Microscopic spores:
spores (6.5)7-9(11.5) x 4-5(5.5) microns, mostly elliptic, sometimes obovate, smooth, inamyloid; basidia usually 4-spored, at times 1-, 2-, or 3-spored, 26-44 x 6-8 microns; pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia absent; clamp connections absent, (Bigelow), spores 7-10 x 4-5.5 microns, elliptic to obovate, smooth, inamyloid, colorless, (Bessette)

Spore deposit:
white to pale yellow (Bessette)