Cortinarius cacao-color Smith subgenus Telamonia Cap 5-10cm across, hemispherical then expanding with a broad umbo and a decurved margin; hygrophanous, dark chocolate brown when wet, drying to a lighter reddish brown, but with some streaks of the darker color still showing; finely silky, almost punctate with fine scales. Gills adnate; dark cocoa brown from the beginning. Stem 70-150 x 10-25mm, broadest at the apex, narrowing downward; pallid, with darker areas showing through; covered in long fibers. Flesh rather mottled, lighter in the center and darker near the edge or when waterlogged. Odor strong, resembling rhubarb(?). Taste slight. Spores broadly ellipsoid, warty, 7.5-8.5 x 5.5-6.5µ quotient 1.35. Deposit rusty brown. Habitat under conifers. Seemingly not rare. Found on the Olympic Peninsula. Season September-October. Not edible. Comment All parts of the mushroom, but especially the gills, turn dark grayish black on drying. |