The coarse, upturned, reddish-brown scales on its stipe and on its umbonate pileus, the usually fusiform, curved and rooting stipe, as well as its preference for beech woods, are characteristic of this species. It has a striking resemblance to Pholiota squarrosa, but that species always grows clustered on wood (usually at the base of tree trunks), unlike C. humicola, which grows on the ground and never in clusters. Also, the gills of P. squarrosa are initially olive-yellow, unlike those of C. humicola, which are initially whitish to light yellowish. Cortinarius bolaris and C. pholideus can also look similar, but the former has +/-flat (not upturned) scales, while the latter grows with birches or poplars and has light violet gills when very young. Overall, Cortinarius humicola is one of the easiest Cortinarius species to identify.