jagged and rough. The gill spacing is rather variable, ranging from distant to crowded; typically, between 100–120 gills extend fully from the stalk to the edge of the cap, with a variable number of lamellulae (shorter gills not extending fully from stalk to cap margin). The stout stalk may be white, pale grey or pale brown, and is thicker at the base. The texture of the stalk surface ranges from fibrillose (appearing to be made of coarse fibres arranged longitudinally) to more or less smooth, and the stalk base will stain dirty brown to yellow when bruised. It is high and wide, with the base in diameter, and bruises a dirty yellow. There is no ring or volva. The flesh is whitish and has a pleasant mealy smell and taste. Variety filamentosum has a mealy odour and taste reminiscent of cucumber. The spore print is white, and the oval to oblong spores are 7.5–9.5 μm long by 5.0–7.0 μm wide. Spores are smooth, hyaline (translucent), nonamyloid, and have a prominent hilum. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are cylindrical to club shaped, four spored, and measure 39–50 by 8.0–9.6 μm. The cystidia present on the gill edge (cheilocystidia) are thin walled, hyaline, have a short stalk and a spherical apical portion, and measure 29–41 by 12–21 μm; cystidia are absent from the gill face. The cap cuticle ranges in cellular form from a cutis (in which the hyphae are bent over, running parallel to the cap surface) to a trichoderm (with hyphae emerging roughly parallel, like hairs, perpendicular to the cap surface); the hyphae comprising the cuticle are cylindrical, and measure 2.0–9.0 μm wide with a club-shaped tip up to 11 μm wide. Similar species Tricholoma pardinum mushrooms may be confused with several edible grey-capped members of the genus Tricholoma, and some authorities recommend leaving all grey-capped Tricholoma mushrooms for experienced hunters. There are several superficially similar European species that could be mistaken for T. pardinum. The smaller T. terreum lacks a mealy smell and cap scales, is darker and less robust, and has smaller spores measuring 5.0–7.5 by 4.0–5.0 μm. The edible T. argyraceum somewhat resembles T. pardinum—but with finer scales, and gills and bruised parts that yellow with age. Unlike the preferentially montane T. pardinum, these lookalikes tend to fruit at lower elevations. T. atrosquamosum is smaller and darker than T. pardinum, and has a peppery aroma. T. orirubens has