Ashen Woodwax
Hygrophorus mesotephrus
The Ashen Woodwax is a distinctive grayish mushroom species with a waxy, smooth cap surface and white to pale yellow gills that typically grows 3-8 cm in diameter. This mycorrhizal fungus forms essential symbiotic relationships with coniferous trees, particularly spruce and fir, facilitating nutrient exchange that supports forest ecosystem health.
Photo: iNaturalist: (c) Federico Calledda, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Federico Calledda
Taxonomy & Classification
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Agaricales
Family
Hygrophoraceae
Genus
Hygrophorus
Ashen Woodwax belongs to the family Hygrophoraceae, order Agaricales, within the Agaricomycetes class.
Species Profile
The Ashen Woodwax is a distinctive grayish mushroom species with a waxy, smooth cap surface and white to pale yellow gills that typically grows 3-8 cm in diameter. This mycorrhizal fungus forms essential symbiotic relationships with coniferous trees, particularly spruce and fir, facilitating nutrient exchange that supports forest ecosystem health. As a decomposer and nutrient cycler, it plays a crucial role in maintaining soil fertility in temperate and boreal forest communities.
Ashen Woodwax faces significant threats from habitat loss due to deforestation and forest degradation, which reduces the availability of suitable mycorrhizal host trees essential for its survival. Climate change poses additional risks by altering temperature and moisture regimes that this fungus depends on for fruiting and spore dispersal. Air pollution and acid deposition may also negatively impact both the fungus and its symbiotic tree partners.
Key Facts
Habitat & Distribution
Ashen Woodwax occurs in temperate and boreal coniferous forests, forming ectomycorrhizal associations primarily with spruce, fir, and pine trees. The species typically fruits in moist, acidic soils of mature forest ecosystems at various elevations.
Threats
Climate change altering temperature and precipitation patterns
Deforestation and forest fragmentation
Air pollution and acid deposition
Loss of mycorrhizal host trees
Soil degradation and contamination
Community Sightings
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Sources & Attribution
How to Cite
IUCN: IUCN (2025). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-1.RLTS
GBIF: GBIF.org (2025). GBIF Home Page. Available at: https://www.gbif.org
This page: SpeciesRadar (2025). Ashen Woodwax (Hygrophorus mesotephrus). SpeciesRadar: Intelligence for Earth's Biodiversity. Available at: https://speciesradar.org/species/ashen-woodwax