How to tell Tawny funnel from Brown rollrim

The cap is 4–10 cm across, occasionally bigger. Young caps are convex with an inrolled margin, then flatten, sink in the centre and become funnel-shaped, often with a wavy edge and little spouts. Late in the season caps can stay squat, with hardly any dip.

The colour is tawny, orange-brown, brick or reddish brown, and paler, almost yellowish in some specimens. The surface is smooth: shiny in mushrooms from conifer woods, matt and silky in those from broadleaf woods. As it dries the cap fades to buff, and old caps develop darker spots that give a marbled look.

Cap 5–15 cm across, convex in young mushrooms, then depressed or funnel-shaped. Surface smooth, hairy-felty in young ones, almost bare in mature ones, olive brown or yellowish brown, sticky in wet weather. The margin stays rolled under for a long time — a characteristic feature.

The gills are very crowded and narrow, with many short gills in between, and run far down the stem. They start whitish or cream, turn tawny cream and then brownish in old specimens, but always stay paler than the cap. They don't fork, and they come away from the flesh fairly easily.

The spore print is white to cream, sometimes with a faint pinkish tint. A brown print means it isn't a tawny funnel; the brown rollrim, for example, gives one.

Gills crowded, thin, ochre-yellow or olive, easily separating from the flesh when pressed, browning when damaged. They run down the stem. This tendency to brown when pressed is a useful identification feature.

The stem is 3–7 cm tall and 0.5–1.5 cm thick, the same colour as the cap but paler. It's tough, slightly fibrous, and becomes hollow with age.

The base is covered in fluffy white mycelium that binds needles and litter into a clump. There is no ring, no veil remnants and no volva.

Stem 3–8 cm tall, 1–2 cm thick, firm, solid, cylindrical or tapering downward, the same colour as the cap or slightly paler. No ring and no volva.

The flesh is thin, especially in the cap, whitish to pale cream, doesn't change colour when broken and has no milk. The taste is unremarkable, sometimes slightly bitter.

Flesh yellowish cream or brownish, firm in young ones, looser in mature ones. Browns when damaged. Has a slightly acrid or sourish taste. Does not exude milk.

The smell is faint, sweetish or slightly spicy, and in many specimens barely noticeable. Don't rely on smell to identify it: the toxic look-alike Paralepistopsis amoenolens also smells sweet and floral, only more strongly.

Smell sourish and pleasant, like fruit or vinegar, especially in mature mushrooms. This neutral, even pleasant smell is exactly what helped the mushroom pass as edible for so long.