Tolypocladium capitatum (Holmsk.) Link 1833 (3 Photos), also known as Elaphocordyceps capitata and Cordyceps capitata, is a parasitic asco that emerges from an underground deer or ‘false' truffle called Elaphomyces granulatus. I tend to find it in late autumn-early winter in mixed woods and under conifers. The top of the fungus is shiny and dotted with perithecia, the openings through which the spores are discharged. Tolypocladium capitatum is in the Ophiocordycipitaaceae family in the Hypocreales order of the ascomycota.
Tolypocladium capitatum