How to tell Wood woollyfoot from Deadly fibrecap

The cap is 2 to 7 cm across, usually 3 to 6 cm, convex with an inrolled margin at first, then flattening, sometimes with a low broad bump or a slight dip; old caps have a wavy, wrinkled or grooved edge.

The surface is hygrophanous, smooth or finely fibrous, dry and matt, sometimes with small white felty spots. The colour varies a lot: pinkish cream, yellowish buff, ochre or reddish brown, darker in the centre.

The cap is 3-10 cm across, hemispherical to convex when young, with a broad central umbo, and opens out with age. The surface is silky and shiny, with fine radial fibres and flattened scales. It starts out whitish, cream or ivory, and with age and handling it slowly turns red: pinkish at first, then brick-carmine or cinnamon-red. The reddening shows most along the margin and wherever the mushroom is damaged. This is the key identification feature.

The gills are widely spaced and narrow, narrowly attached or almost free, pale yellowish at first and turning reddish brown with age.

The spore print is white to pale cream.

The gills are fairly crowded and notched where they meet the stem. They're whitish-pinkish when young, turning olive-brown to brick-brown with age. The spore print is olive-brown or tobacco-coloured, typical of the whole genus Inocybe.

The stem is 3 to 8 cm tall and 0.3 to 0.8 cm thick, cylindrical and slightly wider at the base, tough and hollow, cap-coloured or yellowish brown, paler and finely frosted at the top. There's no ring.

The lower half is densely covered in white to yellowish woolly hairs that bind the leaf litter at the base.

The stem is 3-10 cm tall and 0.5-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly widening toward the base. It's whitish to cream, with a pink or reddish-brick tinge (especially lower down). Like the cap, it turns red with age and handling. The surface has lengthwise fibres, and there's no ring. The flesh of the stem is firm.

The flesh is thin, tough and pale yellowish to brownish yellow.

The flesh is thick and white; when cut, it slowly turns red (not right away: sometimes only after 30 minutes or more), especially in the lower part of the stem. This is an important way to tell it from most Agaricus mushrooms, whose flesh either doesn't change colour or turns yellow (though some wood mushrooms, such as Agaricus silvaticus, also redden, so check the gills and spore print too). The fresh flesh smells and tastes pleasant, fruity and sweetish, and that's exactly what makes it so treacherous.

The smell is faint and indistinct, slightly sour according to some descriptions. The taste is burning and peppery.

Sweet and fruity, with notes of ripe pears or apples. That's unusual for the genus Inocybe, which usually smells spermatic or musty. An appealing aroma, plus a reddening white cap, plus the very season when edible white mushrooms are being picked: the perfect trap for a beginner forager. Never rely on smell to identify this species.