Birch webcap or Red banded webcap

Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical with an inrolled margin in young mushrooms, later becoming convex with a low umbo. Color red-brown, brick, russet-brown, with a pinkish tint when young. Surface velvety and dryish, with fine radial fibers. The cap margin is thin, with pinkish veil remnants in young mushrooms.

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.

Gills — attached to the stem, moderately spaced. In young mushrooms light pinkish brown, becoming with age rusty brown, dark brick as the spore powder ripens. Spore print rusty brown. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a cobweb-like partial veil (cortina).

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.

Stem 8-15 cm tall, 1-2.5 cm thick, cylindrical, long, thickened toward the base. Color brownish cream, with 2-4 distinct red-orange ring-like "bracelet" bands on the lower half — the diagnostic feature of the species. The surface has fine lengthwise fibers. Near the top there is a faint band left by the cobwebby cortina.

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.

Flesh firm, brownish cream. When cut, it does not change color. Smell faint; in some populations with a hint of radish.

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.

Faint and neutral; in some populations with a subtle radish or resinous note.

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.