How to tell Sheathed woodtuft from Sulphur tuft

Cap 2–7 cm across, conical or bell-shaped in young mushrooms, then flattened. Sulphur yellow or egg-yolk yellow, often orange-brown in the center. Surface smooth, moist, without scales. Margin uneven, in young mushrooms joined to the stem by a cobwebby veil.

The cap is 3-7 cm across, hemispherical with an inrolled edge in young mushrooms, later becoming convex to flat with a noticeable low bump. The color is two-toned: in wet weather the center is dark chestnut-brown and the edge pale ocher; in dry weather it's the other way around. The surface is smooth, slimy in wet weather. The cap skin peels off easily.

Gills crowded, yellow or yellow-green at first, then darkening to gray-green or brownish olive — this is the key feature that distinguishes it from the edible honey fungus (whose gills are whitish or cream). Spore print purplish brown.

Gilled hymenophore: the gills are attached to the stem, moderately crowded. In young mushrooms they are pale beige, cream, darkening with age to brown, 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.

Stem thin, 4–10 cm tall, 0.4–0.8 cm thick, yellowish in the upper part, brownish or rusty below, fibrous. No ring, or a faint fibrous ring that soon disappears — the lack of a distinct ring sets it apart from honey fungus.

The stem is 4-8 cm tall and 0.5-1 cm thick, cylindrical, often curved. Two-toned: in the upper part (above the ring) it is smooth, pale ocher-cream. In the lower part (below the ring) it is brownish-black, with distinct brown toothlike scales that stick outward. The ring is narrow, membranous, brownish; noticeable in young mushrooms, it may disappear in older ones.

Flesh yellowish, thin, bitter-tasting — very bitter when raw. But cooking removes the bitterness while the toxins remain, so in a finished dish the mushroom won't give itself away.

The flesh is meaty in the cap, thin in the stem, creamy white to brownish cream. When cut it does not change color. The smell and taste are pleasantly mushroomy, with a nutty note.

Smell mushroomy but indistinct, so it is of little help in identification.

Pleasantly mushroomy with a nutty note. No chemical or mealy undertones, an extra diagnostic feature against Galerina, which has a faint mealy smell.