Cortinarius uliginosus
Description
Cortinarius uliginosus is an inedible conical to convex orange color mushroom. It is covered in yellowish radial fibrils most noticeably near the margin. Typically occurs in many parts of northern and central Europe but rarely in Mediterranean countries.
This mushroom is a member of the subgenus Dermocybe, which includes several deadly poisonous webcaps. It should be regarded as 'suspect' and may contain dangerous toxins, so it should not be gathered for eating.
Common names: Marsh Webcap.
Mushroom Identification
Cap
Young caps often start of conical, becoming umbonate-convex 1.5 to 5cm in diameter and often developing a wavy margin. Cap color is variable but usually tawny orange, coppery orange, or occasionally brick red with the margin slightly paler than the central region; it is covered in yellowish radial fibrils most noticeably near the margin.
Stem
Cylindrical, 2.5-6,5cm tall and 0.3-1cm in diameter, occasionally with a slightly swollen base; surface longitudinally fibrillose and colored like the cap; flesh yellow with a reddish tinge.
Gills
The adnate gills are close; initially, bright lemon-yellow, tuning saffron to ochre-buff or tawny-buff.
Spores
Ellipsoidal, with a finely roughened surface, 8-11 x 5-6µm; inamyloid.
Spore Print
Rusty brown.
Odor and Taste
Odor, when cut or crushed, of radish. Tasting this possibly toxic toadstool is inadvisable.
Habitat & Ecological Role
Ectomycorrhizal, in damp soil with deciduous woods, usually in willow or alder carr woodland. In northern Europe, this webcap is found most often with willows beside lakes, rivers, bogs and marshes.
Look-Alikes
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Has a blood-red cap and blood-red gills and stem.
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Has blood-red gills but otherwise, it is similar macroscopically to the Marsh Webcap.
Cortinarius salignus
Forms mycorrhiza with willows but has a darker color.
Cortinarius alnophilus
Forms mycorrhiza with alder and has pale yellow plates.
Cortinarius holoxanthus
Lives on coniferous needles.
History
This webcap was described in 1860 by British mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley, who gave it the scientific binomial name Cortinarius uliginosus by which it is generally referred to today.
The generic name Cortinarius is a reference to the partial veil or cortina (meaning a curtain) that covers the gills when caps are immature. In the genus Cortinarius most species produce partial veils in the form of a fine web of radial fibers connecting the stem to the rim of the cap rather than a solid membrane.
The specific epithet uliginosus, which comes from Latin, means 'of marshes or bogs' and is a reference to the usual growing habitat of this webcap mushroom.
Cortinarius uliginosus Synonyms
Cortinarius queletii Bataille
Cortinarius concinnus P. Karst.
Dermocybe uliginosa (Berk.) M.M. Moser, Schweiz
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 2 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Photo 3 - Author: Jerzy Opioła (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Photo 4 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo 5 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)