Butter Cap - Rhodocollybia butyracea

Alternative names
Collybia butyracea
Greasy Toughshank
Description

This fungus gets its name from the greasy feel of the cap. It is very variable in colour, from dark reddish-brown to yellowish or pale grey, with a paler edge.  It often appears zoned, but can also be almost white when dry.   The cap may have a distinct umbo (central bump). The stipe is fibrous and flexible, tapering upwards towards the gills, with the base often covered in woolly hairs. Spore print pinkish-cream. 

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Photograph from top down, in side-view and underneath to show gills; ensure your photo clearly shows the length of the stipe from gills to base.  You must note substrate and habitat.

Habitat

It grows in leaf litter in deciduous and coniferous woodland

When to see it

Autumn to early Winter.

UK Status

Common throughout Britain

VC55 Status

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Butter Cap, Greasy Toughshank
Species group:
fungus
Kingdom:
Fungi
Order:
Agaricales
Family:
Omphalotaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
108
First record:
23/10/2004 (Nicholls, David)
Last record:
05/12/2025 (Catherine Horrell)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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