- fruiting body is up to 6 cm broad, pear-shaped, white to dull white, with small conical spines that break off but leave a network of spots behind.
- flesh must be firm and all-white.
- flesh must be undifferentiated with no trace of gills, no thick rind and no outline of mushroom visible in cross section.
- appears in the summer and fall.
- taste is mild, no odor; cook before eating.
- grows singly, in groups or clumped together on forest beds under conifers and hardwoods.
- warning: do not confuse with young, white, button-stage mushrooms, some of which can be deadly poisonous. Button-stage mushrooms differ in that they exhibit faint differentiation when cut in half, rather than being solid white.
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