Gypsy mushroom or Birch webcap

The cap is 4-10 cm across, egg-shaped or hemispherical in young mushrooms, becoming convex and spread out with a broad umbo in the center. The color is ochre-yellow, egg-yolk colored, parchment-yellow, with a characteristic violet-grayish floury bloom in young mushrooms (especially in the center of the cap) — this silvery-violet crust often rubs off with age. The surface is radially wrinkled, as if crumpled. The skin is thin.

The cap of the birch webcap is large — 5 to 12 centimeters across. When young it is hemispherical with an inrolled margin; with age it opens to convex and flat. The surface is slimy and sticky in wet weather and glossy when dry. The color is golden-ochre, yellow-brown or honey-yellow, darker in the center and lighter at the edge, often with flattened fibers from the veil.

Gilled hymenophore. The gills are fairly crowded, notched where they meet the stem. In young mushrooms they are cream, clay-ochre in mature ones, turning rusty brown with age (because of the spore color). The spore print is rusty brown — typical of the genus Cortinarius. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a thin cobweb-like veil (the cortina) — the main feature of the genus Cortinarius.

The spore-bearing surface is made of gills. The gills are attached to the stem and fairly crowded, pale at first — cream or pale clay — and turning rusty-brown, brown from the spores as they mature. In young mushrooms they are covered by a cobweb-like veil (cortina), whose remnants settle on the stem as a brown band. The spore print is rusty-brown. Rusty gills and a cortina are the hallmarks of the webcap genus.

The stem is 6-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly thickened toward the base. White to cream, with white mycelial fuzz at the base. It has a simple membranous ring in the upper part — a remnant of the partial veil. This ring is a diagnostic feature of the species that sets it apart from other Cortinarius.

The stem is sturdy, cylindrical or club-shaped, 7 to 15 centimeters tall, whitish or pale yellow. Its defining feature is several yellowish-brown bands in the lower part, left over from the veil, and a rusty-brown band from the cortina near the top, where spore dust collects. There is no true ring. There is no volva.

The flesh is firm, white, meaty. It does not change color when cut. It has a pleasant mushroomy aroma and a delicate nutty taste.

The flesh is whitish or pale yellow and firm, and barely changes color when cut. The taste is mild or slightly bitter. Because the mushroom belongs to the treacherous webcap genus, the flesh is no reliable guide: identifying it by taste or looks alone is dangerous, so at the slightest doubt, don't eat it.

Pleasantly mushroomy, with a note of fresh nuts. The taste is mild and delicate. One of the finest aromas among forest mushrooms of the genus Cortinarius.

The smell is faint, pleasant and mushroomy, with no sharp notes. Scent is not a reliable feature for safe identification. The mushroom is recognized by its slimy golden cap, rusty gills with a cortina, banded stem and association with birch — but even these features demand a great deal of experience.