Cantharellus ferruginascens

Cantharellus ferruginascens P.D. Orton. (illustrated 50% life size) Cap 2–6cm across, convex then expanded-depressed, irregularly lobed and wavy at the upturned margin; ochraceous-buff, bruising rusty ochraceous. Stem 20–40×5–20mm, tapering towards the base; yellowish-cream, bruising like the cap; robust. Flesh whitish to yellowish-cream; taste mild, smell faint and pleasant. Gills decurrent, narrow, forked, interveined and fusing into one another; pale yellowish-cream, darkening with age. Spores 7.5–10×5–6¼, broadly elliptical. Spore print pale creamy yellowish. Habitat in mixed woodland on chalk soils; late summer to early autumn. Rare, vulnerable on Red Data List. Edible. Note some mycologists now consider this fungus to be only a colour form of Cantharellus cibarius (above).