Stubble rosegill or Egghead mottlegill

Cap 5-15 cm, bell-shaped at first, then opening out to conical or flat with a small umbo. Whitish, greyish-brown in the centre, with a silky sheen. Smooth, slightly slimy in wet weather, dry and silky when it's dry.

The cap is 2 to 6 cm across, sometimes up to 9 cm. It's egg-shaped when young, then like half an egg or a blunt cone, only rarely convex. The margin isn't lined; it overhangs the gills and sometimes carries scraps of veil.

It's whitish, cream or pale clay-coloured, darker in the centre, and fades with age. When wet it's sticky; when dry it's smooth and shiny, often wrinkled or cracked.

Gills 8-12 mm wide, free (not attached to the stem). White at first, turning pink or pinkish-brown with age as the spores ripen. Spore print pink, a key feature of the genus.

The gills are attached, crowded and broad. They start off whitish or greyish, become mottled with black patches and end up black, with whitish edges.

The spore print is black.

Stem 5-20 cm tall, 1-2.5 cm thick, cylindrical, slightly thickened toward the base. White or greyish-yellow, smooth or faintly silky. No ring. At the base there's a distinctive sac-like volva, white or greyish, cupping the stem.

The stem is 6 to 15 cm tall and 3 to 10 mm thick, long and slender compared with the cap, whitish or cap-coloured, paler and finely powdery at the top, slightly swollen at the base, brittle and hollow.

Above the middle there's a thin white ring that turns black on top from spores. It's fragile and can fall off, so look for it on young specimens.

The flesh is white, thin and watery, and doesn't change colour in the air. It's soft rather than firm and doesn't keep: it breaks down quickly.

The flesh is thin, soft and whitish, pale yellowish and brittle in the stem, and doesn't change colour when cut.

A faint, indistinct mushroomy smell; some authors note a slight hint of radish. The taste is bland, with nothing pronounced.

The smell is indistinct.