Poisonpie or Weeping widow

The cap is 4-10 cm, hemispherical at first, then flat-convex with a broad umbo. It's sandy yellow to creamy brown, darker in the centre. The surface is sticky (hence the Ukrainian name, “sticky hebeloma”): distinctly slimy in wet weather and glossy, as if varnished, when dry.

The cap is 3 to 10 cm across, occasionally 12 cm. It starts bell-shaped or hemispherical with an inrolled margin, then becomes convex to almost flat, usually with a low, broad bump.

The surface is dry and densely fibrous, woolly or finely scaly, with fibres radiating from the centre. It's tawny, ochre or yellow-brown, darker in the centre. A pale, ragged fringe of veil hangs from the edge and wears off with age.

The gills are crowded and notched-adnate to the stem, white at first and turning reddish brown as the spores mature. In young mushrooms they bead with distinctive “droplets” of moisture, a diagnostic feature of the genus Hebeloma. Spore print rusty brown.

The gills are attached and crowded, pale yellow-brown at first, then dark brown, mottled and almost black, with white edges. In damp weather droplets form along the edges, turn black with spores and leave dark spots. On young caps a cobweb-like veil covers the gills.

The spore print is black or blackish brown.

The stem is 3-10 cm tall and 1-1.5 cm thick, often with a club-shaped, thickened base. It's white, yellowing with age, especially toward the bottom, and covered with a fine white mealy bloom. No ring.

The stem is 5 to 12 cm tall and 0.5 to 1.5 cm thick, whitish at the top and browner below, fibrous or scaly, hollow and brittle.

There's no true ring: near the top the veil leaves a fibrous ring zone that turns black with spores, like a pen line round the stem.

The flesh is white or creamy, yellowing slightly in old mushrooms, and doesn't change colour when cut. It's firm but not springy.

The flesh is thin, whitish to watery brown, browner at the stem base, and doesn't change colour when cut.

A distinct radish smell is the key diagnostic feature; some authors call it “rotting radish.” The taste is bitterish and unpleasant. Don't taste it raw: it's mildly toxic.

The smell is indistinct.