Lamellar trama pattern is assessed on a cross section of a lamella running from the edge to the top, at right angles to the edge. The section must be quite thin so as to clearly discern the orientation of the tramal hyphae. The arrangement of hyphae may vary with the age of the fruit-body and with the position of the section along the lamellae (whether near the edge or the top).

The hyphae immediately below the basidia may form a distinctive layer (the subhymenium), usually of much shorter hyphae, which is not considered when describing the overall pattern of the lamellar trama.

Where there is a mixture of swollen and cylindrical elements in the trama (as in Russula), which is described as an intermixed trama, assess the overall arrangement, which is normally irregular. See also Lamellar trama (direction). The four options under pattern are usually applied when the tramal hyphae are descending. If the tramal hyphae are radiate, choose the irregular pattern.

Choose this state if: the hyphae of the lamellar trama are more or less parallel, oriented along the axis of the lamellae from edge to top, and not or only slightly interwoven. Other terms for this arrangement are parallel, subregular and subparallel.