How to identify Brick Caps

To correctly identify Brick Caps (Hypholoma lateritium), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   2-8 cm in diameter, convex to flattened, reddish-brown to brick-red, smooth, and often with a slightly wavy margin.

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   Crowded, adnate to adnexed, starting yellowish and turning grayish-brown to purplish-brown as they mature.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   4-10 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm thick, yellowish, often with reddish-brown stains, smooth, and lacking a ring.

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   Yellowish to pale brown.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   Grows in dense clusters on decaying wood.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Decaying hardwood logs, stumps, and buried wood.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Smooth

Growth Form

Clustered

Spore Print

Purplish-brown

Body color

Reddish-brown

Odor

Mild, mushroomy

Flesh bruises

No bruising

Height

4-10 cm

Cap Diameter

2-8 cm

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: Adnate to adnexed
• Stem shape: Cylindrical
• Stem surface: Smooth
• Ring: Absent
• Stem cross-section: Solid

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