Cortinarius bolaris - Dappled Webcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Cortinarius bolaris fruits from late summer to early winter mainly in beech woods. Its colourful red-dappled cap is quite distinctive, especially in older specimens where the cap surface breaks up into annular rings of reddish scales on a buff background.

Mycorrhizal with hardwood trees, this easily-recognised webcap is found almost exclusively under Beech trees and very occasionally under oaks; it often forms small, photogenic groups with stems curving together and meeting at soil level.

Identification guide

	Cap At first domed and then shallowly convex or flat with a broad umbo, the scales on the dry buff-coloured caps vary in colour from orange to deep red. Cap diameter varies from 3 to 10cm at maturity.
	Gills The gills, which are covered by a cortina in young specimens, are pale yellow, becoming rusty brown as the spores mature. When cut, the flesh of this mushroom gradually turns yellow, most noticeably near the base of the stem.
Stem	The stipe, which is often bowed rather than straight, is pale mottled with red, and it is fibrous with a slightly clavate (club-shaped) base, is typically 5 to 15mm in diameter and 4 to 8 cm tall. The remains of the white cortina that adhere to the stem are soon marked by a brown stain from falling spores.
Spore print	Rusty brown.
Odour/taste	No significant taste or odour.
Habitat	Under Beeches and less frequently other hardwood trees; most common in areas where the soil is acidic.
Season	July to November.
Occurrence	Frequent.