St George's mushroom or Shield pinkgill

Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical in young mushrooms, then convex to flattened, with a broad, low bump in the center. Color grayish brown, mouse-brown, chocolate gray; darker and slightly slimy in wet weather, lighter and silky-shiny in dry weather. The surface is smooth, sometimes with fine radial streaks in the center. The cap margin is thin and, in young mushrooms, rolled under.

The cap is 5-15 cm across (large, fleshy); when young it is hemispherical with an inrolled margin, with age becoming flat-convex, and in old specimens flat and spread out with a wavy margin. The skin is smooth, dry and matte in wet weather, with a fine felty fibrousness. Color: creamy white, ochre-cream, with a faint brownish tint at the center; in old specimens creamy ochre. The margin is even — inrolled when young, wavy and irregular when old.

Gilled hymenophore. The gills are broad, with a notched attachment to the stem. In young mushrooms they are whitish gray, and with age they take on the pinkish salmon color typical of Entoloma. Spore print pinkish brown — the key feature of the genus.

Lamellate hymenophore: the gills are notched (emarginate) at the stem, very crowded, thin, fleshy. Color: pure white to creamy white, with no pink or green tint — a diagnostic feature (it sets the mushroom apart from the poisonous Entoloma sinuatum, whose gills turn pink). Spore print white.

Stem 5-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, sturdy, slightly thickened toward the base. Color white to dirty white. The surface is lengthwise-fibrous, with no ring. The flesh of the stem is firm, hollow in old mushrooms.

The stem is 3-7 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick — much shorter and thicker than the cap is wide (hence gambosa — "short-legged"). Cylindrical, thickening toward the base, firm, fleshy. Color: white to creamy white. Surface: smooth, with fine lengthwise fibers in the lower part. No ring.

The flesh is thick, white, fleshy. It doesn't change color when cut. The smell and taste of the raw flesh are pleasant, mealy-cucumber.

The flesh is very firm, fleshy, pure white. It does not change color when cut. Smell: distinctly mealy, sharp and characteristic (like freshly milled flour or dough); taste sweetish and nutty, with no bitterness.

Mealy-cucumber — typical of Entoloma. After boiling — a mild mushroomy smell. The taste is delicate.

Distinctly mealy, like freshly milled flour or raw dough — a diagnostic feature, easy to notice on a cut surface.