Sheathed woodtuft or Shaggy scalycap

The cap is 4–12 cm across, and large old ones can be bigger. It starts out convex with an inrolled margin, then opens up to broadly convex with age, though the margin stays rolled under for a long time.

The background is straw-yellow or ochre and densely covered in brown triangular scales. They don't lie flat: they stick out and curl upward, arranged roughly in concentric rings. The cap stays dry even in wet weather, and rain doesn't wash the scales off. That's what sets it apart from the golden scalycap, whose cap turns slimy and sticky in the rain.

The cap is 3-7 cm across, hemispherical with an inrolled edge when young, later convex to flat with a low but noticeable bump. The color is two-toned: in wet weather the cap is evenly dark chestnut-brown, and as it dries it pales from the center, which turns pale ocher while the edge stays dark. The surface is smooth and slimy in wet weather, and the cap skin peels off easily.

The gills are crowded and attached to the stem or running slightly down it. On young mushrooms they're pale greyish yellow and covered by a cobweb-like veil. Later they turn greenish yellow, and as the spores ripen they darken to a cinnamon or rusty brown.

The spore print is rusty brown. When the mushrooms grow in a cluster, the spores often settle as a brown dusting on the lower caps. Spores are the easiest way to tell it from honey fungus, which has a white spore print. They won't help with sheathed woodtuft, though: its spore print is brown too.

The gills are attached to the stem and moderately crowded. They start pale beige or cream and darken to brown or chocolate-brown as the spores ripen. The spore print is brown to rusty brown. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a whitish partial veil.

The stem is 6–15 cm tall and 0.7–1.5 cm thick, firm and often curved, because the mushrooms crowd each other in the cluster. Above the ring it's pale and smooth; below the ring it's covered in the same rusty, upturned scales as the cap, on a yellowish background. Toward the base it can darken to reddish brown.

The ring is fluffy, almost felt-like, and scaly as well. It doesn't last: it soon breaks into shreds, and on older mushrooms often only a ring zone is left.

The stem is 4-8 cm tall and 0.5-1 cm thick, cylindrical and often curved. It's two-toned: above the ring it's smooth and pale ocher-cream. Below the ring it's brownish-black, with distinct brown toothlike scales that stick outward. The ring is narrow, membranous and brownish; it's noticeable in young mushrooms but may disappear in older ones.

The flesh is firm and pale yellowish, fibrous in the stem. We cut one stem lengthwise: the flesh was light yellowish and didn't change color. The taste is bitterish, and some people find it plainly unpleasant.

The flesh is meaty in the cap and thin in the stem, creamy white to brownish cream, and doesn't change color when cut. The smell and taste are pleasantly mushroomy, with a nutty note.

The smell is noticeable: it often recalls radish, garlic or onion. Its strength varies, and some mushrooms smell only faintly.

The honey fungus and sheathed woodtuft it gets confused with both smell weak and unremarkable. So if a cluster at the foot of a tree smells of radish or garlic, that's a good hint you're looking at a scalycap.

Pleasantly mushroomy with a nutty note. There are no chemical or mealy undertones, which is an extra diagnostic feature against Galerina, whose smell is faintly mealy.