The species of the bihemispheric genus Aureonarius are characterised by vivid yellow, orange, or red colours, at least in some parts of the basidiomata.

The representatives of the genus are easy to recognize by the combination of pileipellis simplex, large, white basidiomata and a peronate universal veil often forming a distinct ring at the upper part of the rooting stipe.

Typical for the members of this genus are medium- to large-sized, pileocarpic, often brightly coloured basidiomata with a more or less, usually distinctly marginated bulb at the base of the stipe.

[5] Hygronarius é a small bihemispheric genus includes small- to medium-sized, stipitocarpic, agaricoid species with yellow–brown to red-brown colours.

[5] The size of the basidiomata of the species in Thaxterogaster genus ranges from small to large and vary in coloration from white, ochraceous, greenish, brown to purple.

Several lineages of this genus have a honey-like or sweet smell in the context, not typical in other genera of the family Cortinariaceae.

At one point,[6] the Polish ate the fool's webcap, Cortinarius orellanus, until people began to get poisoned from eating the mushroom.