[2] French mycologist Pierre Bulliard described this species as Agaricus argyraceus in 1779, before his countryman Claude Casimir Gillet gave it its current name in 1874.

[4] The cap is conical initially and flattening to a convex shape, with a prominent boss.

Measuring 1.5 to 6 cm (0.59 to 2.36 in) in diameter, it is covered with greyish scales, paler than other grey-capped tricholomas, and the crowded gills are white or pale grey and emarginate or adnate in cross section.

The thin flesh is cream or white and has a farinaceous (floury) and somewhat rancid taste and smell.

The species has an ectomycorrhizal association with a number of genera – birch (Betula), Carpinus, oak (Quercus) and Tilia.