sentences:  "G. maculatus" diverged from the ancestor of these eight species, and "Gomphidius borealis" may be an early offshoot that is basal to the split between "Chroogomphus" and "Gomphidius".Miller suggested that the gasteroid species "Gomphogaster leucosarx" may lie within "Gomphidius" but did not analyse that taxon genetically.The members of the genus have pink- to purple-, grey- or brown-tinted caps that have a sticky surface and a varnished appearance when dry.