The fruitbody is a mushroom, with a cap atop a central stem. The cap may grow to 3 centimetres across and is hemispherical when young but flattens with age, becoming convex to plane. It is smooth, striate from the edge to about halfway in and orange-brown to reddish-brown when moist (yellowish brown to creamy with loss of moisture). The gills are pale yellowish brown. The stem may grow to 50 x 5 millimetres, has a colour similar to that of the gills and there is a white, furry to woolly sheathing around the base.
Initially there is a cobwebby partial veil, the traces of which largely disappear once the cap has expanded. Some remnants may remain as a broken line of white fibrils a little way in from the edge of the cap, but these are easily removed.
Spore print: pale brown.
This is an introduced species and grows on woody debris (e.g. twigs, woodchip mulch), often in large colonies.
Look-alikes
There are various species that produce small, brown mushrooms. The broken line of fibrils near the cap edge is possibly the best clue.