Cortinarius & Russula - ID Help Please.

[Lancashire Lad]

Found this week: -

No1 - Can't seem to get anywhere with this Russula.
Lots of them growing amongst mossy soils & leaf litter in wet ground below Fagus.
These three appeared to be in good shape, but virtually all of the many specimens dotted around, were generallt "raggy" in appearance, as though that might be a trait of the species rather than just age or damage by slugs etc.
All caps were very viscid, to approx. 80mm wide. Stipes to similar heights.


No.2 - A Cortinarius. Best I can get is thinking it to be of section telamonia.
My best guesstimate was in the area of C.evernius, but that is apparently commonly found amongst conifers.
These were all found in wetter areas, below Fagus & Betula, although there are Conifers in the wood.
I'm pretty sure that the large dark spots seen on both the tops and undersides of the caps should be diagnostic?
Cap sizes to approx. 40mm, stipe heights to approx. 50mm


Any help with ID's much appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

[diggleken]

Hi Mike,
this needs an expert, partic the cortinarius.................however:
1 could be R nitida, the purple washes out and its a bit variable the ones I have seen recently anyway..............and seems to get battered easily.
2 could be C. brunneus, a variety of anyway, that prolonging veil remnant, gill colour and stem colour seem quite close - v glandicolor is more in mixed birch woodland too.
Cheers
Ken

[Chris Yeates]

hi

sorry Russula just doesn't rock my boat - given that I foolishly look at everything else, large and small, and tiny and "invisible", I have to draw the line somewhere!

and yes it's a Telamonia section Cortinarius . . . . . the fun starts there!; as I understand it there are quite a lot that of this group which are happy in coniferous woodland, so no help there - and you say there are broad-leaved trees in the vicinity as well; the caps don't look very silky - though that might be due to them being wet/damp, but I would be thinking in the area of the varieties of Cortinarius flexipes or possibly C. sertipes (though that tends to prefer poplars), but there are others . . .

very important characters for Cortinarius identification are the colour of the young gills and any smell when fresh (if these smelt of Pelargonium for example, you would be a lucky guy); young gills does mean very young try to find one with part of the cortina still in place

good luck

Andreas has been very busy in Bavaria this last week, but when he has more time he may be able to help

cheers

Chris

PS Nick C might be able to help - I seem to remember that he just lurrrrrrves Telamonias

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Found this week: -

No1 - Can't seem to get anywhere with this Russula.
Lots of them growing amongst mossy soils & leaf litter in wet ground below Fagus.
These three appeared to be in good shape, but virtually all of the many specimens dotted around, were generallt "raggy" in appearance, as though that might be a trait of the species rather than just age or damage by slugs etc.
All caps were very viscid, to approx. 80mm wide. Stipes to similar heights.


No.2 - A Cortinarius. Best I can get is thinking it to be of section telamonia.
My best guesstimate was in the area of C.evernius, but that is apparently commonly found amongst conifers.
These were all found in wetter areas, below Fagus & Betula, although there are Conifers in the wood.
I'm pretty sure that the large dark spots seen on both the tops and undersides of the caps should be diagnostic?
Cap sizes to approx. 40mm, stipe heights to approx. 50mm


Any help with ID's much appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

The Russula may well be R. gracillima, I'm not wholly convinced by this but I keep coming back to it.

Andy

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I guess these are also destined for the UFO file.

Andy, (correct me if I'm wrong) but I didn't think R.gracillima as all of these Russulas were very creamy white-ish, with no signs of violet shades at all. There were one or two similar to these with slightly more pronounced colour to centre area to caps, but generally all very pale & raggedy.

Just one point on the Cortinarius that I didn't mention in original post, was that they all had very striking pale margins (obviously visible in photos), but I thought possibly something which might also be diagnostic towards ID.

Regards,
Mike.

[Ken Burgess]

Hi Mike

Cortinarius umbrinolens is a distinct possibility for your Cortinarius. I've found specimens like yours at Sunbank Wood in past years and that's what they tentatively keyed out to using Karl Soop's key. And tentative IDs are as far as I ever get with most of this genus!

Ken

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I guess these are also destined for the UFO file.

Andy, (correct me if I'm wrong) but I didn't think R.gracillima as all of these Russulas were very creamy white-ish, with no signs of violet shades at all. There were one or two similar to these with slightly more pronounced colour to centre area to caps, but generally all very pale & raggedy.

Just one point on the Cortinarius that I didn't mention in original post, was that they all had very striking pale margins (obviously visible in photos), but I thought possibly something which might also be diagnostic towards ID.

Regards,
Mike.

Yes, I know what you are saying and this is why I am not wholly convinced by R. gracillima but it is the only one that I can think of to hand that remotely resembles your find. The lack of pinkish tones is a concern, as, if some lack the pink tones, there are generally some that will have them. Will need further exploration I think.

Andy

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Ken Burgess

Hi Mike

Cortinarius umbrinolens is a distinct possibility for your Cortinarius. I've found specimens like yours at Sunbank Wood in past years and that's what they tentatively keyed out to using Karl Soop's key. And tentative IDs are as far as I ever get with most of this genus!

Ken

Thanks Ken - A distinct possibility if some of the photos I've just browsed are anything to go by. I'll just record it as Cortinarius sp. though, as anything more would be a bit too much speculation at this stage I think.

Originally Posted by Andy Overall

Yes, I know what you are saying and this is why I am not wholly convinced by R. gracillima but it is the only one that I can think of to hand that remotely resembles your find. The lack of pinkish tones is a concern, as, if some lack the pink tones, there are generally some that will have them. Will need further exploration I think.

Andy

Cheers Andy. - There are still loads of these around at the site, so I'll keep my eye on them over the next few days to see if any crop up that might just have something more diagnostic about their appearance.

Regards,
Mike.

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Thanks Ken - A distinct possibility if some of the photos I've just browsed are anything to go by. I'll just record it as Cortinarius sp. though, as anything more would be a bit too much speculation at this stage I think.



Cheers Andy. - There are still loads of these around at the site, so I'll keep my eye on them over the next few days to see if any crop up that might just have something more diagnostic about their appearance.

Regards,
Mike.

Are they most likely to be with the Beech or are there any Birch nearby ?

Andy

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

. . . . I'll just record it as Cortinarius sp. though, as anything more would be a bit too much speculation at this stage I think . . . .

no! you can safely say Cortinarius section Telamonia . . . . that narrows it down a bit (but only a bit )

cheers

C