Lepista sp.?

[leifus]

[BROCSMAN]

Cortinarius?

[NickCantle]

That's an extremely good call mate, I can see what you mean. It's an unlikely looking Cortinarius, but I think it is one of the smaller species. I recall a specimen of mine that was very similar;



The other thing that crossed my mind was Collybia- the streaky and apparent fibrous stem would fit the genus. I've seen atypical specimens of Collybia butyracea looking rather like this, though not as small.

[BROCSMAN]

I think the stipe looks a little too broad for a Collybia. Can't do the species, but a violaceous Cort looks a possibility?

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

That's an extremely good call mate, I can see what you mean. It's an unlikely looking Cortinarius, but I think it is one of the smaller species. I recall a specimen of mine that was very similar;



The other thing that crossed my mind was Collybia- the streaky and apparent fibrous stem would fit the genus. I've seen atypical specimens of Collybia butyracea looking rather like this, though not as small.

C. butyracea was my first thought for this, the stem is very distinctive.

[NickCantle]

Originally Posted by BROCSMAN

I think the stipe looks a little too broad for a Collybia. Can't do the species, but a violaceous Cort looks a possibility?

I don't know if you've ever seen C. violaceous in the flesh? I certainly haven't, but I've heard that it's much more saturated than it looks in any book- and this specimen isn't half as colourful as the ones in the books so I wouldn't have thought so.

Collybia stems are odd, if you catch them from the front, they look flimsy and thin but if caught from the side they look large and thick- so a cross section of the stipe would show a '0' rather than an 'o', if that makes sense?

[leifus]

here is C.violaceus to compare:

Cortinarius violaceus

and it doesn't look like any Collybia butyracea Ive ever seen.....

[NickCantle]

The 'C. violaceous' you've linked to is in fact misidentified by the source. The image clearly shows Lepista nuda.

You may not have seen C. butyracea like this but Collybia are often found in atypical states. I had to get one identified a while ago because it was oddly formed and coloured, see the image below which was identified as C. butyracea. To illustrate the variability between specimens in this species of Collybia, some books and online literature state that there is doubt that Collybia butyracea var. asema is actually a valid variation and that it should be recorded under the original C. butyracea, so yes, a very variable species.

Here's the image I referred to of a specimen that remained unidentified before I WABbed it;



Upon the development photograph, the ID was confirmed;



I hope this clarifies that this species is one of the most variable you're likely to see- probably no more variable than hundreds of other species, but seeing as it's extremely common then you're more likely to notice.

Nick

P.S - You can see a true C. violaceous in the WAB Gallery here;

Cortinarius violaceous.

I can safely say that your specimen isn't this.

[leifus]

Yes that clears it up thanks!

I did think that picture on my link looked like my Lepista nuda from yesterday.....

[BROCSMAN]

Thanks for the guidance Nick.