CAP: (5-11 cm) wide, convex, becoming broadly convex, sometimes nearly flat; surface dry and somewhat velvety, sometimes cracked in age, dark olive to olive-yellow with reddish tints, sometimes reddish brown in age; flesh pale yellow with a reddish line beneath the cuticle, initially bright yellow, then pinkish around larval tunnels, unchanging or blueing slightly when bruised; surface of cap giving a fleeting blue or blue-green reaction, then changing to reddish brown with NH₄OH; odor mild to slightly pungent; taste not distinctive.

PORE SURFACE: yellow to olive-yellow, often but not always staining blue or blue-green when bruised; pores angular, 1-2 mm wide.

STALK: (4-10 cm) long, (1-2.5 cm) thick, nearly equal but often narrowed downward, solid, mostly yellow or paler, sometimes with brownish stains but never red, typically whitish and narrowed at the base, often with a yellow basal mycelium, sometimes with raised longitudinal lines forming a partial reticulum at the apex or nearly overall; partial veil and ring absent.

SPORE PRINT: olive to olive-brown.

MICROSCOPIC FEATURES: spores 10-14 x 4.5-5 μm, oblong to ventricose, smooth, pale brown.

FRUITING: in groups on the ground in mixed woods and under conifers, along roadbanks and trails; July-September; infrequent to occasional.

EDIBILITY: edible.

From Mushrooms of Northeastern North America Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette, & David W. Fischer  Copright © 1997 Syracuse University, ISBN 0-8156-0388-6