Pholiotina sp.

The fruitbody is a mushroom with a cap atop a central stem. The caps are often conical but may flatten with age . They may grow to 5 centimetres in diameter, but in many cases are no more than half that. Most are in shades of brown, from ochre-ish to reddish-brown ; they may be dry or somewhat sticky and they are often striate away from the central area. The gills are pale yellow brown to rusty-brown. The stem is relatively long and slender, reaching 5 or more centimetres long and a few millimetres wide.

 There is no universal veil and in some species there is also no partial veil, but a partial veil is present in the young mushrooms of some species. Once the cap has expanded you see the veil remnant as a pronounced horizontal collar around the stem, though with time this may disappear.

 Spore print: rusty brown.

 The mushrooms commonly appear on soil or on twig/leaf litter.

 Look-alikes

If you see a small, brown-capped mushroom, with the cap atop a relatively long and slender stem and with a pronounced horizontal collar on the stem, Pholiotina is a good guess- more so if the mushroom is growing from plant remains.

 Species of Descolea are very similar macroscopically (and also with a pronounced horizontal collar as a remnant), but are more robust or chunkier in appearance. Galerinas are common in similar habitats, though most Galerina species are more delicate or with flimsier veil remnants. When a more solid veil is present the remnant ring generally does not stick out as a horizontal collar.