A small, vase-shaped mushroom of rotting conifer wood with a finely scaly, grayish-brown to yellow-brown cap over a yellow ground and distant, golden yellow gills that run down the stem. Its yellowish spore print is unusual among omphalinoid mushrooms. It is fairly widely distributed in North America but not common.
Fairly widely distributed in North America but not common; uncommon in California. Also occurs in Europe, where Fries described it.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-4 cm (to 5 cm), plano-convex with an inrolled margin, becoming flat and centrally depressed; very finely scaly with gray-brown to yellow-brown fibers over a yellowish ground. Gills: decurrent, distant or nearly so, yellow to pale yellow or orangish yellow, not forked. Stem: 1.5-4 cm long, up to 3.5 mm thick, more or less equal, yellow to orange-yellow or nearly whitish. Spore print: yellowish. Spores: 8.5-15.5 x 4.5-7 um, smooth, elliptical, inamyloid; no cystidia or clamp connections (MushroomExpert.com; MykoWeb).
