Hypholoma lateritium, also known as the Brick Tuft Mushroom, is a small or medium-sized agaric with a reddish-brown cap on a yellow background, yellow or olive-brown gills, and a faint ring zone. The mushroom grows densely caespitose, or clustered, on stumps and debris of broad-leaf trees.

Cap reddish-brown, with the colour deepening towards the centre and becoming more ochreous at the margin. It starts off convex and becomes more expanded with age, appearing smooth but with dark velar remnants attached near the cap margin. The flesh is pallid yellowish, firm, and moderate. Gills attached to the stem, close or crowded when young, covered by a whitish, cortina-like veil. They are whitish when very young, but soon turn pale grey to grey, becoming purple-grey to dark purple-brown with maturity. Short gills are frequent. Stem pallid yellowish above but more concolourous with cap towards the base, more or less equal in width, typically curved, smooth. There is no ring present. Spore print purple-brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores are ellipsoidal, smooth, measuring 6-8 x 3-4.5μm, and feature a small germ pore.

Note: Hypholoma sublateritium is a synonym most mycologists tend to favour in the USA.

Hypholoma lateritium on the First Nature Web site.
Hypholoma sublateritium on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.