Alongside path between oaks and hemlocks. Cuticle peels 50%. Taste acrid (but not strongly so). Spore print white. Spores 7-9.5 x 6-7.5. Spines with heights up to about 1.0 micron, a few faint connections found. Mushroom Expert says the "very thin ridges creating patterns and partial reticula", although the spore photo accompanying the ME description appears to show no connections. Other sources claim the thin connections should form a reticulatum. I did not observe this (scoped spores twice). I'm guessing this trait is elusive, and perhaps 400x magnification is insufficient to see it.