Pholiota: rusty-brown to earth-brown spores; pileus either bald, fibrillose, or scaly, often viscid to gelatinous; stipe often with a distinct annulus or with a fibrillose zone. Stature: Armillarioid or Naucorioid, sometimes Cortinarioid. Substrate: typically on wood; two species grow from pieces of wood buried in the ground and the habitat thus appears to be terrestrial. Species of Pholiota typically have a mild taste. There are numerous species of Pholiota in northern California.

When you find a gilled-fruiting body on wood with brown spores, an annulus or a fibrillose zone on the stipe, a viscid and/or fibrillose or scaly cap, and a fibrous stipe, a species of Pholiota should be investigated. Two species appear as if they are found on the ground, Pholiota terrestris with its brownish scaly pileus and stipe and P. malicloa with its yellowish orange pileus, its stipe which bruises brown at the base, its pungent odor, and its resemblance to Hypholoma fasiculare.

Compare carefully with species of Gymnopilus which differs by its brighter rusty-brown spores and gills, its fleshy which tastes bitter.