Cortinarius hesleri, an eastern North American species that associates with oaks, has a rusty brown spore print and a cortina in young specimens. The poisonous jack-o'-lantern mushrooms (genus Omphalotus) comprise another group of lookalikes; however, they have straight, non-forked true gills. The European wood-rotting species Haasiella splendidissima, sometimes confused with H. aurantiaca, is most readily distinguished from the latter by its pink spore print and gills that do not fork.
Cortinarius hesleri, an eastern North American species associated with oaks, has a rusty brown spore print and a cortina in young specimens. The poisonous jack-o'-lantern mushrooms (genus Omphalotus) form another group of similar-looking fungi; however, they have straight, non-forked true gills. The European wood-rotting species Haasiella splendidissima, often mistaken for H. aurantiaca, can be distinguished from the latter by its pink spore print and gills that do not fork.