Blusher or False death cap

The cap is 5-15 cm across, hemispherical in young mushrooms, later becoming convex to flat. The color is pinkish gray-brown, brownish pink, brick, darker in young mushrooms and paler in old ones. The surface is covered with noticeable whitish-grayish wartlike scales (remnants of the universal veil), scattered unevenly. In wet weather it is slightly sticky. The cap edge is smooth.

Cap 5-10 cm across, hemispherical in young mushrooms, becoming convex-flat with age. Color pale yellow, lemon-citrine, creamy yellow, slightly darker in the center. Surface smooth, slightly slimy in wet weather. The cap often carries large whitish or grayish membranous patches — remnants of the universal veil (volva) that stuck to it as it grew. The cap margin is smooth.

Gilled hymenophore: the gills are whitish, turning pink over time where damaged, free. The spore print is white.

Gilled hymenophore — gills white, free (not attached to the stem), moderately crowded. Spore print white.

The stem is 6-12 cm tall and 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, with a distinct bulbous swelling at the base. The color is whitish above, with pink or reddish tints lower down. In the upper part there is a white ring with lengthwise grooves and a pinkish tint. The volva is indistinct: it appears as concentric pinkish-white warts on the swollen base (not as a sac).

Stem 6-10 cm tall, 1-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, with a pronounced bulbous base (like an onion bulb). Color white to yellowish. In the upper part — a white membranous ring. At the base — a volva forming a rim on the bulb (not a sac, as in the destroying angel).

The flesh is white, slowly (over 1-5 min) turns pink to wine-red when cut; this is the main diagnostic feature of the species. It turns especially pink where slugs or insects have been feeding. In an old mushroom all the flesh in the lower stem is wine-pink. The smell is faint and pleasantly mushroomy.

Flesh white to pale yellow. When cut, it does not change color. Smell distinct, with a note of raw potato or radish — a diagnostic feature of the species.

Faint and pleasantly mushroomy, with no distinctive notes. In old mushrooms, with a slight winey note.

A distinct potato-and-radish smell, with notes of raw potato, radish or a damp cellar. It comes out when you rub the flesh between your fingers. The most important diagnostic feature of the species.