 Like other Pholiota mushrooms, P. squarrosa has a scaly cap and stem. The cap ranges from 3 to 12 cm (1.2 to 4.7 in) in diameter, and depending on its age, can range in shape from bell-shaped to rounded to somewhat flattened. The cap color is yellowish-brown to tawny in older specimens. The scales on the cap are yellowish to tawny, and recurved.
