Ochre brittlegill or False death cap

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.

Cap 4-10 cm across, when young convex with an inrolled margin, with age becoming flattened with a slightly depressed center. The cap skin is matte, slightly slimy in wet weather, peels back about 1/3 of the way to the center. Color: ochre-yellow, mustard-yellow, grayish-yellow, deeper toward yellow-brown at the center, paler toward the margin. Mature caps fade to pale cream. In mature specimens the margin has fine radial grooves.

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

Gilled hymenophore — the gills are attached or free from the stem, moderately crowded, thin, brittle. Color: whitish at first, cream to pale ochre with age. Spore print pale cream to pale ochre.

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).

Stem 4-7 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, firm, cylindrical, hollow in old specimens. Color: white to grayish-white, with faint grayish spots in old specimens. Surface smooth with lengthwise wrinkles. No ring.

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.

Flesh firm, brittle, white to cream. Does not change color when cut, or slowly turns grayish. Smell faint, neutral, taste mild when young, often bitterish when mature (tongue test).

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.

Faint and neutral, with nothing distinctive.