Summary:
Hypholoma epixanthum is recognized by a copious silky veil on the margin of the tawny cap, pale clay or clay-olive gills, a long yellowish to brownish stem, a bitter taste, and growth on wood. Breitenbach(4) give this as a synonym of Hypholoma radicosum Lge. which has a rooting stem and grows on conifer wood, but Hypholoma epixanthum is distinguished by Moser(1) and Watling(3). The description is derived from Watling(3) except where otherwise noted.

Cap:
1.7-5.4cm across, convex then expanded, sometimes slightly umbonate or slightly depressed or wavy-lobed; "bright tawny-brick, tawny-honey or tawny-ochre with paler more yellowish margin, sometimes with darker pallid-honey or slightly olivaceous marginal zone when old"; "white silky veil forming often concentric rather filmy-silky scales which persist near margin, centre soon smooth, margin lacerate-fringed from or with appendiculate veil at first" [with hanging veil remnants at first]

Flesh:
pale tawny-honey or ochraceous-honey in cap, "deeper red-brown or rusty in stem cortex and often darker at base", pale buff or with slight tawny tinge in center of stem

Gills:
"adnate emarginate often with a tooth", crowded; "whitish, soon clay then clay-olivaceous, finally with slight violaceous tinge", edge may be slightly paler; edge "even or slightly minutely flocculose"

Stem:
1.7-6.8cm x 0.3-1.3cm, equal or slightly thickened at top or with club-shaped base, sometimes compressed [flattened], stuffed then hollow; white silky fibrillose at first then pale yellowish or ochraceous in upper part and tawny-ochraceous, sepia or date brown in lower part; "at first with upward pointing silky fibrillose scales, then silky fibrillose striate", top white pruinose

Veil:
leaves filmy silky scales near cap margin, and sometimes fleeting ring zone on stem

Odor:
unpleasant (Moser), none or faintly acid (Watling)

Taste:
bitter or bitterish

Microscopic spores:
spores 7-8 x 4-4.5 microns, elliptic, [presumably smooth and with germ pore]; basidia 4-spored; pleurocystidia 30-40 x 8-12 microns, "clavate sometimes with short point with yellow body in alkali", cheilocystidia 20-34 x 5-8(10) microns, apex 2-5 microns, lageniform with obtuse apex or fusiform, (Watling), spores 6-8 x 3.5-4.5 microns, (Moser)

Spore deposit:
purple chestnut

Notes:
Hypholoma epixanthum has been reported from BC by Davidson (1930). There are collections from BC at the University of British Columbia but none recent. there is also a collection from WA at Oregon State University (collected by J. Trappe, annotated 1991). Breitenbach(4) give distribution of Hypholoma radicosum as North America and Europe.

EDIBILITY

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Naematoloma epixanthum (Fr.) Karst. sensu Bres.