A dark, sombre species with a brown‑grey to almost black cap bearing thick ochraceous concentric scales, grey‑violet lamellae, and a robust grey‑violet stipe becoming dirty ochraceous.

Pileus: 20-50 mm, dry, weakly hygrophanous. Rounded with slightly flattened apex, later obtusely conical. Dark brown‑grey to umber‑brown, sometimes almost black. Covered in thick, ochraceous, concentric squamules or plates, sometimes persistent; elsewhere glabrous. Margin with ochraceous veil remnants.
Lamellae: Grey‑violet at first, later darker. Broadly emarginate, crowded (L = 50–70, l = 2). Edge concolorous.
Stipe: 35-70 x 6-9 mm, robust, cylindrical to slightly attenuated downward. Pale grey‑violet, becoming dirty ochraceous. Silky‑fibrillose. Veil yellow‑ochraceous, copious. Cortina pale grey‑violet, fairly abundant.
Context: Soft, grey, violet‑tinged and marbled, becoming darker in age. Stipe base sometimes yellowish to orange.
Odour/taste: Odour none to slightly fruity. Taste bitter, unpleasant.