Parasol mushroom or Blusher

Cap large, 10-25 cm across. Egg-shaped at first, then opening out flat like an umbrella, with a small blunt bump in the center. The background color is light gray to grayish brown, and the surface is covered with large brown or grayish-brown scales in concentric rings; the center is darker and smoother. The skin peels easily away from the flesh.

The cap is 5-15 cm across, hemispherical in young mushrooms, later becoming convex to flat. The color is pinkish gray-brown, brownish pink, brick, darker in young mushrooms and paler in old ones. The surface is covered with noticeable whitish-grayish wartlike scales (remnants of the universal veil), scattered unevenly. In wet weather it is slightly sticky. The cap edge is smooth.

Gills. The gills are crowded, thin and free (they don't touch the stem) — an important feature of the genus. White at first, turning cream to yellowish with age. Spore print white.

Gilled hymenophore: the gills are whitish, turning pink over time where damaged, free. The spore print is white.

Stem tall, up to 30 cm high, 1-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, with a bulb up to 2.5 cm at the base (no volva — this is crucial!). Gray-brown with a distinctive “snakeskin” zigzag pattern of darker scaly patches — a diagnostic feature. Near the top there is a fleshy movable ring (you can slide it up and down), whitish above, with a brown edge below.

The stem is 6-12 cm tall and 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, with a distinct bulbous swelling at the base. The color is whitish above, with pink or reddish tints lower down. In the upper part there is a white ring with lengthwise grooves and a pinkish tint. The volva is indistinct: it appears as concentric pinkish-white warts on the swollen base (not as a sac).

The flesh in the cap is white, soft, juicy in young ones, softer and a bit limp in old ones. When cut, it stays white and does not change color — an important difference from similar species. The flesh in the stem is tough and fibrous — not edible.

The flesh is white, slowly (over 1-5 min) turns pink to wine-red when cut; this is the main diagnostic feature of the species. It turns especially pink where slugs or insects have been feeding. In an old mushroom all the flesh in the lower stem is wine-pink. The smell is faint and pleasantly mushroomy.

A pleasant nutty smell with a subtle mushroomy note. The taste is mild and delicately nutty — especially when fried.

Faint and pleasantly mushroomy, with no distinctive notes. In old mushrooms, with a slight winey note.