A medium to large, buff to ochre-brown mycorrhizal mushroom with a wrinkled, furrowed cap frosted with whitish fibrils and a membranous whitish ring on the stem. The ring kept it in a separate genus, Rozites, for many years, but DNA studies returned it to Cortinarius in 2002. It is a popular edible in Europe, particularly Scandinavia.
Edible and well regarded, sold commercially in Finland, but only for experienced foragers. It is a Cortinarius, a genus with deadly orellanine-containing species, and look-alikes include the poisonous Inosperma erubescens (muscarine), C. traganus (unpleasant odor) and Agrocybe praecox. Check the membranous ring, the white frost on the wrinkled cap and the ochre-brown spore print. It accumulates mercury and radiocaesium.
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Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal with a wide range of trees, including pines, spruces, birches and beech; in conifer and mixed woods and heathland, preferring acidic, sandy soils. Late summer and fall.
Distribution
Northern North America, south to Mendocino County, California; common in Scandinavia and less common elsewhere in northern Europe (in Britain mainly the Scottish Highlands and New Forest); also temperate Asia, western Siberia and rarely western Greenland.
Characteristics
Cap: 5-12 cm, convex becoming flatter with a central umbo; buff to brownish ochre, sometimes lilac-tinged when young, covered with whitish fibrils, wrinkled and furrowed. Gills: attached, clay-colored. Stem: 4-12 cm long, 1-2.2 cm thick, whitish to beige, slightly swollen at the base, with a whitish membranous ring. Flesh: cream; odor and taste mild. Spore print: ochre to rusty brown. Spores: 10-13 x 8-9 um, almond-shaped, warty (Wikipedia).
