 The cap is initially somewhat conical with margins rolled inward, and expands to become bell-shaped or broadly convex in maturity, reaching a diameter of 1 – 3 cm (0.4 – 1.2 in). The cap sometimes has an umbo, which is rounded to conical. The color of the cap ranges from dull to bright orange when young, to yellowish-brown (tawny) in maturity. It is hygrophanous, and the color fades to yellowish-buff. The cap surface is smooth and polished, and somewhat translucent, such that the radial gill lines can be seen on the margin. The gills are closely spaced, and have two tiers of interspersed lamellulae (short gills). Gills have an adnate to adnexed attachment to the stem, although the gills tend to secede (separate from the stem) in maturity. They are initially pallid to whitish in color before turning brownish when the spores mature. The smooth stem measures 3 – 5.7 cm (1.2 – 2.2 in) long by 1 – 2 mm thick. Yellowish to pale orange near the top and dark reddish brown below, it has tawny mycelium at the base. In maturity the stem turns black from the base upward. In 1907, Morgan noted the stipe to be remarkably similar to that of Marasmius cohaerens. The mushroom flesh has an odor that ranges from indistinct to somewhat of geraniums, while its taste is indistinct to faintly bitter. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.
