Commonly known as the Peppery Bolete, is a small, edible mushroom easily recognized by its cinnamon-brown cap and distinctive bright-yellow mycelium at the base of the stem. True to its name, it has a hot, sharply peppery taste.

Cap: 20-70 mm, convex to plano-convex, sometimes slightly depressed in age. Surface dry, smooth to finely velvety, occasionally faintly fibrillose. Colour yellow-brown, tan, orange-brown, or cinnamon-brown; often duller than C. aurantiacus. Margin even, sometimes slightly paler.
Pores & Tubes: Pores small, round to angular. Colour orange-red, rust-red, or pinkish-orange — the most distinctive feature. Tubes concolorous, shallow. No blueing when bruised. Pore surface may darken slightly with age or handling.
Stipe: 30-80 mm x 5-15 mm, slender, smooth, dry. Colour yellow-brown, orange-brown, or reddish-brown, often paler at the apex. No reticulation. Basal mycelium yellow (a stable Chalciporus character).
Flesh: Pale yellow to cream, firm. No colour change when cut. Taste distinctly peppery, sometimes very hot — the origin of the common name.