Distribution: Broad

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Hygrocybe conica is one of the easier mushrooms to identify. Its fruitbodies are medium-sized with moist to viscid, yellow, orange, or red conical caps, and pale yellowish gills and stipe; all parts blacken in age or when handled. It is perhaps the most widely distributed species in the genus, and occurs in a wide range of habitats, including forests, woodlands, and unfertilized, often mossy, grasslands or lawns. As would be expected with a highly variable fungus, several varieties have been described, differing in details of stature and color. H. singeri (A. H. Smith & Hesler) Singer was described from collections with particularly viscid stipes, but otherwise it seems identical to H. conica. Although normally a fall fungus, H. conica occasionally is found in spring.