For Confirmation and ID Help Please

[Lancashire Lad]

These found yesterday: -

No.1 - Possible Bovine Bolete - Suillus bovinus?
Small troup, growing in a damp area of mixed conifer/deciduous woodland.
Largest cap about 60mm across, stipe heights up to about 80mm.
Pronounced pale margin to caps, no bluing of pores or stipe when damaged.


No.2 - Possible Red Banded Webcap - Cortinarius armillatus?
Solitary specimen growing in mossy hedge bank, beside road.
Pronounced band of reddish veilar remants around stipe below cap.
Cap diameter about 50mm, stipe height about 80mm.


No.3 - Possible Yellow Swamp Brittlegill - Russula claroflava?
Growing in damp soil in an area of primarily Birch.
No distinct smell, cap peeled just under half way.
Cap size about 60mm, stipe height 70mm.


No.4 - Thought ID on these would be easy, but can't get close.
Scattered troup of about 30 fruitbodies, growing from soil, mostly directly under tree cover, but a couple in adjacent grassy area.
Trees in the immediate area were one Oak, one Scots Pine, one Rowan, and a Rhododendron (under which most of the fruitbodies were located).
Some of these were large fruitbodies, up to about 180mm cap size, with stipes up to about 200mm.
Caps and stipes all creamy white - (the brownish cast on the first photo is due to long exposure in dark undergrowth below rhododendron), no ring visible, no distinct smell.
Looking through my books, would appear to discount the majority of all white mushrooms, due to size, lack of ring, gill colouration etc. and I can't make any logical headway towards ID.



Any confirmations/ID's/other will be much appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

[ManwithNoname]

I agree with your identification of Suillus bovinus.

Your Cortinarius shows rusty brown spores caught in the remains of the cortina on the stem rather than any red banding. So it is a Cortinarius but it isn't C. armillatus. It does actually look like one or two photos of this species if you google it, but that's because those specimens have been misidentified. Have another look at some images on the web to get a feel for the difference between a typical cortina (the remains of the web-like veil), which is characteristic of the genus as a whole, and the distinctive coloured banding lower down the stem that would be present in C. armillatus.

I can't see anything in your photo of the yellow Russula to persuade me one way or the other as to whether you have R. claroflava or R. ochroleuca. R. claroflava has ochre-yellow spores which deepens the colour of the gills as the mushroom matures. The flesh also bruises grey-black where damaged. Neither character is apparent in the photo. Cap colour is notoriously difficult to judge from a photo. Perhaps someone else will be able to give an opinion.

Try comparing your large white mushrooms with Collybia maculata.

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks a lot ManwithNoname.

I see what you mean now with regards to the difference between the veilar cortina (which is what my specimen is showing ) and stipe banding, which, as you say, clearly discounts this from being Red banded Webcap.

I accept what you say regards your two options for the Russulas. They do appear macroscopically very much like each other. The colour in my pics. is pretty much as they were - distinctly bright, rather than creamy yellow.
I wasn't aware of the discolouration on damage as an ID pointer, so I'll remember that for future finds, and try to show in any photos.

Your suggestion of C.maculata tallys with what I had first narrowed these down to, but had then discounted again because all of my books say "cap up to 10cm, stipe up to 10cm" (or very near). These were up to twice that size.
I have been advised by others to take such stated dimensions with a slight pinch of salt, but as these were double the size I had thought that might be stretching the point a little too far
Apart from size though, everything else seems to fit, so if this sort of size is within their range, I'm very satisfied with them being C.maculata

Thanks again.
Regards,
Mike.