Mycorrhizal with birch in damp birch and mixed woodland, on mossy woodland edges and along paths

Good edible mushroom

• ▸ Cap hemispherical to cushion-shaped, drier, grey-brown to warm brown, margin often overhanging the tubes
• ▸ Tubes whitish to grey, later brownish-grey; pores round, bruising greyish-brown
• ▸ White stem covered in dense, coarse, dark grey-brown to blackish scabers, crowded at the top; never ringed or netted
• ▸ Firm white flesh that slowly turns pinkish-grey to violet-grey in the stem, especially at the base

A faithful mycorrhizal partner of birch; the cap colour varies greatly — the dark scabers on the white stem are the reliable feature.