A colorful, bulbous webcap of old-growth conifer forests. Its sticky cap shifts with age from yellowish- or olive-gray to rich copper red-brown, and the rimmed stem bulb bruises red. It was long known under the misapplied name Cortinarius orichalceus.
Edibility not documented; not recommended. Like other webcaps, it should not be eaten. Cortinarius includes deadly species such as C. orellanus and C. rubellus that contain orellanine, which causes kidney failure that appears only after a delay of days, often after the meal has been forgotten.
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Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal in old-growth conifer forests, most likely in mature conifer forest on calcareous, chalk- or limestone-rich soils.
Distribution
Europe, where it is assessed as Near Threatened. North American collections reported on nacorts.com come from Washington (near Mount Rainier) and Alaska. Older North American reports under the name C. orichalceus may include other species, such as C. pseudocupreorufus of the Pacific Northwest.
Characteristics
Cap: 3-10 cm, convex to plano-convex, viscid; yellowish gray to olive gray at first, becoming warm to rich red-brown, especially at the center. Gills: close; lilac-gray when young, becoming yellow to olive-yellow, then rusty. Stem: 3.5-8.5 cm long, pale creamy yellow to olive-yellow or bluish, with an abruptly bulbous, rimmed base that bruises red, especially at the rim; abundant cortina remnants. Flesh: grayish blue to yellowish; odor absent, taste mild. Chemical reactions: KOH turns the cap red-brown to wine-red and the flesh olive-gray. Dried specimens: dark burgundy (nacorts.com).
