Cortinarius sp. sightings - Canberra Nature Map

Cortinarius

The fruit bodies of species of Cortinarius are mushrooms. They vary greatly in colour (from white and dull browns to bright reds orange or purple), in size (with caps from a few to over 20 centimetres in diameter) and with caps or stems that may be dry or slimy.

The mushrooms appear on the ground and are mycorrhizal, with eucalypts being common partners in our area. Cortinarius is a large genus, with many species already recorded in Australia and, as a genus, is widespread and common (though within the genus there are species with a limited distribution).

One feature of most species of the genus is the occurrence of a cortina (which is the basis of the generic name). A cortina is a flimsy membrane (looking much like thick cobweb) that extends from the margin of the unopened cap to the stem and therefore hides the gills. As the cap expands, the cortina breaks and most of it falls back against the stem, but sometimes wispy remnants remain on the edge of the cap. Often it is possible to find traces of a cortina on the stem (or on the cap edge), but a cortina is far more easily seen in a young mushroom, before the cap has expanded.

Cortinarius australiensis (http://canberra.naturemapr.org/Community/Species/22391) has a membranous partial veil.

Species of Cortinarius produce a rusty-brown spore print. Even before the cortina has broken, mature spores may have been falling onto the upper side of the cortina. When the broken cortina collapses against the stem, what was the spore-covered upper side would face out from the stem and you then you might see what look like rusty-brown streaks or smudges on the stem. Look closely (preferably with a hand lens) and you might make out cortina remnants covered in rusty-brown powder.

Note that while a cortina is found in Cortinarius, that feature is also found in some other genera.