How to tell Velvet shank from Sulphur tuft

Cap 2-8 cm, hemispherical at first, then convex-expanded to flat. Color yellow-orange, honey-yellow, darker in the center and paler toward the edge. In wet weather it is slimy and shiny; in dry weather, somewhat matte. The cap skin peels off easily.

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.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills crowded, thin, adnate or slightly decurrent. Whitish to cream, turning yellowish with age. Spore print white — an important diagnostic feature for telling it apart from the poisonous funeral bell (whose spore print is rusty brown).

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.

Stem 3-7 cm tall, 0.3-0.8 cm thick, slender, cylindrical, often curved, hollow inside. A telltale feature — a velvety dark brown surface, especially lower down (the upper part is paler, yellowish). There is no ring — this is the crucial difference from the funeral bell.

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 flesh is thin and yellowish in the cap, fibrous and springy in the stem. It doesn't change color when cut. It has a pleasant mild flavor.

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.

Faint, pleasant mushroomy smell. Taste mild and delicate.

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