You may have seen pictures of the parrot waxcap in field guides or on other websites before. It probably didn’t look anything like what you see here. I initially thought that this mushroom might have been Hygrocybe conica (the blackening waxcap) and that the greenish areas were bruising. However, after handling it. I noticed it did not bruise at all. This lead me to the conclusion that I had found the Parrot waxcap, but unfortunately I was too late to see the characteristic green coloring it has when it is young. The green coloring typically doesn’t last very long, and only very young specimens will be the beautiful emerald green that this mushroom is known for. However, you can see still see some green coloring on the edges of the cap, There is also some greenish coloring on the underside of the cap where the stem is connected. Hopefully one day when I revisit the area that this one was found, I will find a younger and specimen with the beautiful green cap this mushroom is named for.
