How to tell St George's mushroom from Ivory funnel

Cap 2-5 cm across, convex when young, becoming funnel-shaped over time, with a depressed center and a thin wavy margin. Color whitish, cream, with pale gray or ochre patches; silky-sheened in wet weather, chalky white when dry. Surface smooth, with barely visible radial streaks.

The cap is 5-15 cm across (large, fleshy); when young it is hemispherical with an inrolled margin, with age becoming flat-convex, and in old specimens flat and spread out with a wavy margin. The skin is smooth, dry and matte in wet weather, with a fine felty fibrousness. Color: creamy white, ochre-cream, with a faint brownish tint at the center; in old specimens creamy ochre. The margin is even — inrolled when young, wavy and irregular when old.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills crowded, thin, decurrent down the stem (a hallmark of the genus Clitocybe). Color whitish to cream. Spore print white.

Lamellate hymenophore: the gills are notched (emarginate) at the stem, very crowded, thin, fleshy. Color: pure white to creamy white, with no pink or green tint — a diagnostic feature (it sets the mushroom apart from the poisonous Entoloma sinuatum, whose gills turn pink). Spore print white.

Stem 2-4 cm tall, 0.3-0.8 cm thick, slender, cylindrical, often curved. Color whitish to cream, with white mycelial fuzz at the base. Surface smooth, no ring. Stem flesh firm.

The stem is 3-7 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick — much shorter and thicker than the cap is wide (hence gambosa — "short-legged"). Cylindrical, thickening toward the base, firm, fleshy. Color: white to creamy white. Surface: smooth, with fine lengthwise fibers in the lower part. No ring.

Flesh thin, white, watery, brittle. Does not change color when cut. It has a faint, pleasant smell (slightly sweet, or mealy according to some guides) and a mild taste — and that is what makes this species so treacherous: it smells and tastes "right", nothing sets off alarm bells.

The flesh is very firm, fleshy, pure white. It does not change color when cut. Smell: distinctly mealy, sharp and characteristic (like freshly milled flour or dough); taste sweetish and nutty, with no bitterness.

Faint and indistinct, slightly sweet; some guides describe it as mealy. This adds to the danger: the smell raises no suspicion. Never rely on smell when identifying mushrooms of this size.

Distinctly mealy, like freshly milled flour or raw dough — a diagnostic feature, easy to notice on a cut surface.