A sequestrate (secotioid) Cortinarius that never opens: the slimy, olive-brown to brownish-yellow cap stays fused to the stem by whitish cortina-like tissue, enclosing reddish-brown chambers in place of gills. It often fruits half-buried in conifer needle duff in western mountains. DNA work places it close to Cortinarius collinitus in subgenus Myxacium.
Edibility unknown. Cortinarius includes deadly orellanine-containing species, so it should not be eaten.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal with conifers, especially firs and Engelmann spruce, in high-elevation pine-fir and spruce-fir forests. Solitary to scattered or in groups, often partly buried in duff; spring to early fall.
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Western North America: common in the Rocky Mountains, occasional to uncommon in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-3 cm, convex or irregularly blocky; sticky or slimy; olive brown or brownish yellow; never fully opening, margin fused to the stem apex or only partly pulling away. Interior: reddish brown, with poorly formed gill chambers and air pockets. Stem: 2-4 cm long, 0.5-1 cm thick, whitish or pale brownish, sometimes purple-tinged; can be rudimentary or enclosed in the cap. Odor: strong and sweet. Spores: 14-18 x 8-12 um, ellipsoid, moderately warty, dextrinoid.
