Deer shield or Rooting shank

Cap 4-12 cm across, hemispherical to conical-convex with an umbo when young, later flattening out with a low umbo. Colour brownish-grey, deer-brown, dark brown, darker when young and fading to grey-brown with age. Surface smooth with fine, darker radial fibres, slightly sticky in wet weather.

The cap is 3 to 10 cm across, occasionally 12 cm, bell-shaped or convex at first, then flat with a broad central bump.

It's slimy when wet, shiny or silky when dry, and radially wrinkled or pitted, especially around the centre. The colour varies a lot: pale grey-brown, brown, ochre, olive-brown and sometimes almost white.

Gills free (not attached to the stem) and crowded, whitish at first, later turning pink as the spores mature. Spore print PINK: a hallmark of the genus Pluteus (though pinkgills, Volvariella and some other mushrooms have pink spores too).

The gills are white to cream, broad, thick and widely spaced, attached with a small tooth or notched, and often brown-edged on old caps.

The spore print is white.

Stem 5-12 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, long and fairly slender, often thickened toward the base. Colour whitish to grey-brown, with fine, darker lengthwise fibres. No ring and no volva. The missing volva is the more reliable difference from amanitas: some amanitas have no ring.

Above ground the stem is 8 to 20 cm tall and 0.3 to 1 cm thick, white at the top and brown lower down, grooved lengthways and fibrous, often twisted and tough. There's no ring or veil.

Underground the stem continues as a long, tapering 'root' to buried wood or tree roots, often as long as the part above ground. It swells slightly just above the root.

Flesh soft, watery, white. When cut, it does not change colour. Smell faint; in some populations with a hint of radish.

The flesh is thin and white, soft and springy in the cap, fibrous and tough in the stem.

Faint, neutral, mushroomy; in some populations with a hint of radish or raw potato.

The smell is indistinct or faintly fruity.