Holotype (PDD 27079); Isotype (Herb. HK. ZT 68/141): 'S of Lake Hochstetter, Prov. Westcoast, N.Z.; leg. Horak, 12.III.1968'. - Herb. HK. ZT 67/233: 'Kopara, Ngahere, Prov. Westcoast, N.Z.; leg. Horak, 10.XII.1967'. - Herb. HK. ZT 68/266: 'Moonlight Valley, Paparoa Mts., Prov. Westcoast, N.Z.; leg. Horak, 5.IV.1968'.

Pileus 5-35 mm diam., conic when young becoming convex and then umbonate-expanded, occasionally margin of pileus upturned, deep orange to red-brown, darker at the centre, fading to pink-yellowish-brownish, subviscid to dry, margin slightly striated, glabrous, pellicle separable. Lamellae adnexed to emarginate-adnate, brilliant orange, especially at the even gill edge, turning deep ochraceous, moderately distant. Stipe 15-75 x 3-7 mm, fusoid, often curved, apex yellowish or whitish, pinkish-yellow-orange towards the base, dry, glabrous, hollow, single. Context apricot-yellow. Taste and odor unpleasant, like rotten meat. Chemical reactions on pileus: KOH orange, NH3 and HCl- negative. Spores 6-7 x 4-4.5 µm, ovoid, smooth, inamyloid. Basidia 32-46/5-6 µm, 4-spored. Cystidia lacking. Cuticle a cutis consisting of repent, cylindric, slightly gelatinized hyphae (5-10 µm diam.), occasionally interwoven, encrusted with pigment. Clamp connections absent on cuticular hyphae.

In soil amongst litter of Nothofagus (N. menziesii, N. fusca) and Dacrydium cupressinum. New Zealand.

Pileo 5-35 mm lato, e conico convexo demum umbonato-expanso, aurantio vel rubrobrunneo, pallescente, sicco, substriato. Lamellis emarginato-adnatis, laete aurantiacis. Stipite 15-75 x 3-7 mm, fusoideo, luteolo basim versus fulvo, flexuoso, cavo. Sporis 6-7 x 4-4.5 µm, ovatis. Cystidiis nullis. Epicute ex hyphis cylindraceis, pigmento incrustatis subgelatinosisque cutem formantibus. Septis defibulatis. Ad terram in silvis. Novazelandia.

The characters of this species are so conspicuous that it can be identified at once in the felt. H. conspicua Hk. was observed on several occasions both in Nothofagus and Podocarpus forests along the Westcoast of South Island.

Holotypus (PDD 27079): 'Lake Hochstetter, N.Z.; leg. Horak, 12.III.1968'.