Tephrocybe rancida is a species of fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 in the family Lyophyllaceae

Lyophyllaceae

The Lyophyllaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order. The family contains 8 genera and 157 species....

. It was first described by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries

Elias Magnus Fries

-External links:*, Authors of fungal names, Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming.*...

 in 1821. T.rancida is commonly called the Rancid Greyling due to it's typical coloring and rancid smell and taste.

Description

Cap

Pileus (mycology)

The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...

 1-4cm in diameter. Convex to flat, umbonate. Grey to brown-grey starting with a whitish bloom. Shiny when wet. Gills Free, crowded, grey. Stem

Stipe (mycology)

thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...

 4-8cm long by 3-7mm in diameter, concolorous with cap. Spore

Basidiospore

A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia. In grills under a cap of one common species in the phylum of...

s white or cream, ellipsoid, 7–8 x 3–4.5m.

Distribution and habitat

Found growing from the ground, solitary in deciduous woodland. Early autumn to early winter. Rare. North America and Europe.

External links

C.rancida at Rogers Mushrooms