Phaeocollybia: rusty-brown spores; bald, often campanulate to conic stipe, various-colored gills which typically are not white, and radicating, bald stipe that tapers to a point. Since the stipe has a cartilaginous rind and a fibrous center, the stature type of the fruiting bodies is Collybioid or even Mycenoid

The pileus and stipe are, more often than not, concolorous and appear as if coated by a waxy, shiny substance. In nature, the fruiting bodies are often buried in the substrate for about 2/3 the length of the stipe. It most closely resembles Caulorhiza umbonata which has white spores and which has a pileus and cap, each of which lacks the shiny lustre of Phaeocollybia..