Cortinarius armillatus

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by Michael Kuo

This impressive Cortinarius is mycorrhizal with birch, and is a common late summer and fall mushroom in northern forests where birch appears. Its stem has a swollen base, its dry cap is yellow-brown to reddish brown, and its gills are dirty yellowish to pale cinnamon before maturity. The most distinctive feature of Cortinarius armillatus, however, is the series of two to four red "bracelets" encircling the stem.

Similar species include Cortinarius rubripes, which grows with oaks and features a bright orange stem base but not the distinctive bracelets, and several smaller, slimmer versions of Cortinarius armillatus, including Cortinarius haematochelis, under conifers in the Pacific Northwest.

I do not recommend any Cortinarius for the table.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with birch (possibly with conifers as well); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in northern North America.

Cap: 5-15 cm; convex or bell-shaped, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; dry; smooth, finely hairy, or very finely scaly over the center at maturity; yellow-brown to reddish brown, often with a deeper, brick red center; sometimes fading to dull tan.

Gills: Attached to the stem; close or nearly distant; pale dirty yellowish to pale cinnamon at first, becoming rusty brown with maturity; covered by a whitish cortina when young.

Stem: 7-15 cm long; up to 2.5 cm thick; swollen at the base; dry; smooth or finely silky; whitish to pale brownish; encircled by 2-4 red, concentric bands; with a rusty ring zone above the bands; basal mycelium whitish.

Flesh: Whitish to pale brownish.

Odor: Not distinctive, or radishlike.

Spore Print: Rusty brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores (7-) 10-13 x 5.5-7.5 µ; elliptical; finely warty; dirty orangish brown in Melzer's.

REFERENCES: (Albertini & Schweinitz) Fries, 1838. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1887; Kauffman, 1918; Kauffman, 1932; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 09039503, 09110507.

Further Online Information:

Cortinarius armillatus at Fungi of Poland

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, March). Cortinarius armillatus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cortinarius_armillatus.html