The
cap is in diameter, initially pale yellow then darker as it matures, and sandy in the middle. It has a campanulate (like a bell) to convex shape, later becoming flattened, with a very blunt
umbo. The cap is fleshy in the center, but becomes thinner towards the margin. Its surface is smooth and sticky, but eventually becomes covered with silky fibers. The
gills are crowded together, broad, adnexed, and slightly emarginate (notched) at the stem. They are bluish when young, later turning cinnamon as the
spores mature. The
stem is long and about thick, measuring up to thick in the swollen part of the base. It is quite flexible, faintly bluish at the top when young, white when mature with a faint tinge of yellow, smooth, sticky or shiny, and with a cortina at the top forming an annular zone. It is narrower at the apex and usually clavately thickened at the base, stuffed, then hollow. The
flesh is white, then slightly yellowish, soft, with mild taste, sometimes slightly bitter when mature, with no distinguishable odor. The mushroom is inedible. The
spores are spherical to egg-shaped, drawn into an apiculus at the base, pale rust colored and coarsely verrucose (wart-like), measuring 7–8 by 6.3–6.5
μm. The
basidia (spore-bearing cells) are 25–30 by 9–10 μm. The
spore deposit is ochraceous rust.
Similar species Cortinarius lewisii has a dry yellow cap, a dry cream-colored stem with a white basal mycelium, and a dense white yellow partial veil, and flesh that has a musky to radish musky odor. ==Distribution and habitat==