Habitat: near, or even in, snow as it melts in the late spring and early summer

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Hygrophorus goetzii is one of the species that make up the so-called snowbank fungi of our western mountains. These mushrooms appear near, or even in, snow as it melts in the late spring and early summer. H. goetzii produces smallish, slender, pale pink fruitbodies with viscid cap and dry stipe. Although the habitat, color, and waxy gills make it hard to confuse with anything else, its large spores (10--15 x 7--10.5 µm) furnish an additional diagnostic character. It is not encountered very often. Two other snow-bank hygrophoruses are the rare blue fungus, H. caeruleus O.K. Miller, and H. subalpinus. H. goetzii was named in honor of Donald and Christel Goetz, pioneering members of the Oregon Mycological Society and Pacific Northwest Key Council.