Winecork brittlegill or Milk-white brittlegill

The cap is 5–15 cm across, occasionally up to 20. It starts convex, then flattens, develops a dip in the centre and in old specimens becomes almost funnel-shaped.

Young caps are dirty white or greyish buff, then grey-brown and smoky brown, and dark brown to blackish in old mushrooms. The surface is smooth, slightly sticky and shiny when damp, and the margin is even, without grooves.

The cap is 5-20 cm across (often very large), convex to flat with a distinctly inrolled margin when young, becoming deeply funnel-shaped with age. The skin is matte white with an ochre-brown centre; on mature caps, bits of soil and moss tend to collect in the funnel. Base colour white to cream, ochre-brown to brownish in the centre. The skin peels only at the margin, and not easily. The margin is even, with a fine felty down when young.

The gills are narrow and of unequal length, with many short ones in between, sometimes forked, and attached to the stem or running slightly down it. They start white, turn greyish, and darken where pressed. Sources describe the gills as both close and widely spaced, so don't rely on spacing.

The spore print is white.

The gills are decurrent, moderately spaced, fleshy and brittle, whitish to creamy white, and in the upper part, near the stem, often with a characteristic greenish-bluish tint, a diagnostic feature. Spore print white to creamy white.

The stem is 3–6 cm tall, up to 11 cm in large specimens, and 1–3 cm thick. It is hard, cylindrical and smooth, the colour of the cap but paler, and it darkens when handled. The base is often massive, wrinkled and folded.

There is no ring, no volva and no veil remnants.

The stem is 2-5 cm tall and 2-4 cm thick, so very short and thick even under a large cap. It's cylindrical to conical, thickening toward the base, and whitish, with a characteristic greenish-bluish tint in the upper part and fine crosswise wrinkled grooves. No ring.

The flesh is white, firm and hard. When broken it slowly turns faintly pink over half an hour, then pale smoky grey, but never black as in the blackening brittlegill. There is no milk. The taste is mild and sweetish, sometimes slightly sharp.

The flesh is very firm, thick, white and brittle, and exudes no milk when damaged (it's not a milk cap!). When cut, it slowly takes on a yellowish tint. The smell is faintly mushroomy, with a fruity note in young mushrooms; the taste is mild at first, then distinctly burning and acrid (especially in the gills). Boiling removes the acridity.

The smell is noticeable and distinctive: musty, like an old empty wine cask, and some describe it as mouldy. This is what gave the mushroom its English name.

Faintly mushroomy, with a fruity note in young mushrooms. Nothing striking.