Cortinarius persplendidus (Splendid Red Skinhead)

The fruitbody is a mushroom, with a cap atop a central stem. The cap may grow to about 10 centimetres in diameter, but mature caps are often much smaller. The cap is red-brown or orange brown, dry and smooth. The gills are bright red – often described as ‘paprika red’. The stem may grow to 10 centimetres long and 15 millimetres wide, tapers upwards and is dry. It is red in the upper area and yellow lower down.

Spore print: rust-brown.

There is cobwebby partial veil. This disappears one the cap has expanded but it often leaves traces as spore-coated, rusty-brown fibrils on the stem.

This species is known from Australia and New Zealand. The mushrooms may appear in a variety of habitats near eucalypts or other Myrtaceae.

Look-alikes

This is a distinctive species. Dermocybe kula would be the closest in appearance, but that species lacks the yellow colour.

Cortinarius persplendidus is listed in the following regions:

Canberra & Southern Tablelands | South Coast