Honey fungus or Porcelain fungus

The cap is 3–12 cm across. Young caps are rounded and convex with an inrolled margin; with age they flatten and spread out, keeping a small bump in the middle.

Its colour ranges from honey-yellow and ochre-brown to dark brown with an olive tinge, depending on the host tree. The surface is dotted with small dark scales, densest in the centre. In wet weather the cap is slightly slimy; in dry weather it's dry and matte.

The cap is 2 to 8 cm across, occasionally up to 10 cm. It starts convex or hemispherical, then becomes broadly convex or flattened. Young caps are greyish or olive-grey, later white and translucent like porcelain, often with a faint ochre flush in the centre.

In wet weather it's coated in thick, clear slime, though young caps are almost dry. The margin is thin, and the gills show through it.

The gills are moderately crowded and thin, attached to the stem by a short tooth or running slightly down it.

They're creamy white at first, darkening with age to a dirty ochre, often stained rusty by spores. In young mushrooms a membranous veil (velum) covers the gills; later it stays on the stem as a whitish or pale yellowish ring, one of its ID features.

The gills are broad, very widely spaced, attached to the stem, white and translucent, and can turn slightly ochre with age.

The spore print is white and very abundant.

The stem is slender and tall: 6–15 cm long and 0.8–2 cm thick. It's cylindrical, often slightly curved and a little wider at the base. Whitish-yellow at the top, it darkens to rusty brown toward the base.

The surface is fibrous, with small brown scales on the lower part. The ring is membranous, whitish or pale yellowish and set in the upper third of the stem. It usually lasts into old age but can be torn off, so don't rely on the ring alone: check the pale gills and the scaly cap too. There's no volva.

The stem is 3 to 8 cm tall, occasionally up to 10 cm, and 3 to 10 mm thick, slim and tough, often curved, and slightly swollen at the base. It's white and finely lined above the ring, greyish and finely scaly below it.

The ring is white, membranous, prominent, slimy and grooved.

The flesh is thin and white, noticeably fibrous in the stem. It doesn't change colour when cut, staying white or cream. In the cap it's softer and juicy; in the stem it's toughish and often hollow in older mushrooms.

Raw, the flesh tastes astringent and slightly bitter, but that's not why it's boiled: raw or undercooked honey fungus upsets the stomach. Cooking gets rid of the bitterness and leaves a pleasant mushroomy flavour.

The flesh is thin and white, turning brownish at the stem base with age.

Fresh honey fungus has a faint smell that sources describe in different ways: indistinct, slightly sourish or musty. The sulphur tuft's smell is indistinct too, so you can't tell them apart by smell.

The smell doesn't change when you cut it. Dried, it keeps a light mushroomy aroma, but because of its high moisture content and thin cap it's rarely dried; it's more often pickled or salted.

The smell and taste aren't distinctive.