Cortinarius alboviolaceus

[Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Cortinariaceae > Cortinarius > Sericeocybe ... ]

by Michael Kuo

The dry, silvery lilac cap that lacks cinnamon brown stains, the club-shaped stem with a white sheath, the mild odor, and the hardwood habitat distinguish this subtly beautiful Cortinarius from similar species. Like other Cortinarii it has a rusty brown spore print and a cortina covering the young gills (which are purplish).

Cortinarius alboviolaceus is a classic representative of the subgenus Sericeocybe, characterized by a dry stem and cap (which does not change color markedly as it loses moisture), and the presence of lilac or purple shades somewhere on the mushroom.

Strictly speaking, I have not found Cortinarius alboviolaceus in North America, though it (or something very like it) definitely appears on our continent, according to the literature. All the North American collections I have made, however, appear to represent Cortinarius subpulchrifolius. That species may well turn out to be the same as Cortinarius alboviolaceus, but it was originally described from Michigan. It has slightly larger spores, and a cap that is not bell-shaped and features rusty brown spots and discolorations in maturity. Cortinarius alboviolaceus was originally described from Scandinavia, which is where the illustrated collections were made.

The edibility of Cortinarius alboviolaceus is not known. Do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods; growing alone or gregariously; summer and fall; possibly widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 3-8 cm; convex to bell-shaped, becoming broadly convex and usually retaining a broad central bump; dry; silky; pale purplish at first, soon becoming silvery or whitish lilac.

Gills: Attached to the stem; close; pale purplish at first, becoming cinnamon to rusty; covered by a white cortina when young.

Stem: 4-12 cm long; .5-1 cm thick at the apex; usually swollen at the base or club-shaped; dry; silky; pale lilac, especially near the apex; with whitish to silvery fibers that may trap mature spores and thus develop rusty colors; basally sheathed with white.

Flesh: Whitish or pale lilac.

Odor: Mild.

Spore Print: Rusty brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6.5-9 x 4-6 µ; elliptical; slightly roughened.

REFERENCES: Fries, 1838. (Kauffman, 1918; Miller, 1972; Lincoff, 1981 [S & S]; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Barron, 1999.)

Further Online Information:

Cortinarius alboviolaceus at Fungi of Poland

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, January). Cortinarius alboviolaceus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cortinarius_alboviolaceus.html