This is a poisonous species which causes gastro-intestinal irritation and destruction of red blood cells. It is known to have caused some deaths in the northern hemisphere.
The fruit body is a mushroom in which, at maturity the cap is often funnel-shaped, perhaps with a somewhat wavy margin and the margin is slightly inrolled. Earlier the cap is convex to flat. The cap is some shade of brown, can reach a diameter of around 15 centimetres and may be sticky when moist. The stem may be central or off centre and has a colour similar to that of the cap. It may be up to 5 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. The gill colour is somewhat similar to that of the cap, but paler and more yellowish. The gills turn brown when bruised.
There is neither a partial nor universal veil.
Spore print: yellowish brown.
The mushrooms are found on the ground near trees native to the northern hemisphere. Native 'paxilloid' species have been placed in the genus Austropaxillus.