Distribution: Uncommon

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Edibility: Edible. David Arora likens the H. sordidus he once used in a curry to overfed and undercooked banana slugs.

Edible. David Arora likens the H. sordidus he once used in a curry to overfed and undercooked banana slugs.

Hygrophorus sordidus is distinctive because of its large size and all white coloration, but little else. Its caps are up to 20 cm (8 in.) in diameter and viscid, the gills attached to decurrent, and the stipe dry. The waxy gills set it apart from several clitocybes and leucopaxilluses which it otherwise resembles. H. sordidus is fairly common under oaks in California, but much less common in the PNW. The collection in the photograph was found near the coast in Oregon’s Tillamook County, with nary an oak in sight and may represent a different species, although we were unable to find any likely candidates among those that have been described.