Summary:
Distinctive features are a brown cap, decurrent gills, stem that is dark brown, velvety, and usually off-center or even lateral, often a bitter taste, and growth on conifer wood, The description is derived from Arora(1) unless otherwise indicated. It is fairly common in the Pacific Northwest (Arora).

Cap:
4-15(20)cm, convex becoming flat or centrally depressed, margin at first inrolled; yellow-brown to rusty brown to dingy reddish brown becoming dull brown, dark brown or blackish brown when old; "dry, unpolished, velvety or with matted hairs", (Arora), dark brown when young becoming paler; velvety when young becoming smoother, (Trudell)

Flesh:
thick, rather firm or tough; pallid to ocher or buff, (Arora), yellowish (Trudell)

Gills:
usually decurrent, close or crowded, often forked or veined near stem; tan to dull ocher, dingy yellowish, or paler, (Arora), often forked or forming pores near stem; "cream to yellowish to brownish yellow", staining brownish when old, (Trudell)

Stem:
2-9(12)cm x 1-3(5)cm, "often short and usually off-center or even lateral", solid, tough; "densely velvety from a coating of brown to dark brown to blackish-brown, often matted hairs", top often paler or yellowish, (Arora)

Veil:
absent

Odor:
almost none (Breitenbach), slightly fetid (Lincoff(1))

Taste:
mild, sometimes bitterish (Breitenbach), very bitter (Lincoff(1)), bitter (Courtecuisse, Schalkwijk-Barendsen), rather bitter (Kibby), not distinctive (Phillips, Bessette), acrid [peppery], (Trudell)

Microscopic spores:
spores 5-6.5 x 3-4.5 microns, elliptic, smooth, many dextrinoid, (Arora), spores 4.4-5.6 x 3.2-4.3 microns, broadly elliptic, iodine-negative, smooth, yellowish, some with droplets; basidia 4-spored, 33-40 x 6-8 microns, narrowly clavate, with basal clamp connection; cystidia not seen; clamps mentioned for basidia and cap cuticle, (Breitenbach)

Spore deposit:
yellowish to brownish (Arora), yellow-brown with a slight olive tint, (Breitenbach), clay color to mustard yellow (Miller)

Notes:
There are collections from BC at the University of British Columbia, and from WA, OR, ID, MT, ON, MI, NH, and NY at the University of Washington. It is rare in CA (Arora).

EDIBILITY

not recommended (Arora)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Paxillus atrotomentosus Fr.