Cortinarius alnetorum (Vel.) Moser subgenus Telamonia Cap 1-3cm across, rather flat but with a large, prominent umbo; cocoa brown or darker when wet, drying brownish fawn, umbo purplish black; covered in fine fibrils giving the cap a shiny appearance. Gills adnate, rather distant; dark cocoa brown from the beginning. Stem 25-65 x 2-4mm, base sometimes swollen but not bulbous; dark brown to black with slight bands of white veil; fibrous, a little shiny. Flesh dark brown when wet, a little lighter on drying. Odor when crushed of geranium leaves. Taste slight. Spores ovoid, lightly roughened, 8.5-10 x 4.5-6µ, quotient 1.75. Deposit rusty brown. Habitat in alder bogs. Found in Washington and probably elsewhere. Season September-October. Not edible. Comment This is a European species not previously recorded in North America, but it fits perfectly and probably is much more common than this single record implies. Found in Europe and north America. |