[1] It is among the larger species in this group, growing in coniferous or deciduous woodland during autumn; it has a primarily European distribution.

The centre of the cap is reddish brown, or orange-brown, breaking into small scales, which are fewer, and lighter towards the margin.

The flesh is white throughout, and has an unpleasant chemical smell, similar to that which is produced when cutting metal;[2] the odor has also been compared to rubber.

[3] The spores are spindle (fusiform) or almond (amygdaloid) in shape, with dimensions of 9–13 to 5–7; μm.

[5] However at that time the nomenclatural rules demanded a description in Latin, and so the species did not officially exist until when in 1972 the same two authors republished with a short Latin text in the monthly bulletin of the "Société linnéenne de Lyon" (Linnaean Society of Lyon).