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Can you help?
We would like to extend our coverage of this important group of fungi. If you have taken suitable pictures of other Cortinarius, Inocybe or Galerina species and are willing for us to show them - with proper acknowledgement of course - we would be most grateful. If you can help, please email us...
The order Cortinariales contains the families Cortinariaceae and Crepidotaceae; the former includes fungi from the genera Cortinarius,
Hebeloma,
Gymnopilus and Inocybe. (Note that some classification systems put
the Bolbitiaceae and Strophariaceae into the order Cortinariales.
Following the Kew Classification System wherever practicable, we have put them
into a separate Strophariaceae and
relatives section.)
Larger pictures, identification guides and a wealth of information on these
and hundreds of other species are contained on the First-Nature CD-ROM Guide to Fungi.
The Cortinariales order is vast, comprising over 3000 species in Europe and very
many more world-wide. (There are some 600 European fungi in the Cortinarius genus alone.) It is also a most difficult group to categorise: many of the
species can vary greatly in size and colours, making microscopic examination a
necessary step in precise identification.
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A partial veil covers the gills of young fruit bodies. The veil, which joins the edge of the cap to the
stem, consists of fine cobweb-like strands and is termed a 'cortina'. In some
species the cortina is fleeting, while in many others it remains intact until
the fruitbody nears maturity. When the
veil breaks, the cortina often clings to the stem and catches falling spores; in
so doing a rusty ring is formed around the stem, and the shape of this ring can
help in identifying certain Cortinarius species.
The Cortinariales leave brown spore prints. |
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Strophariaceae and Bolbitiaceae also include many species that
have a cortina-like partial veil in the early stage of fruitbody development. Shown here is Pholiota squarrosa.
Following, where it is practicable to do so, the Kew Classification System,
we have included the Strophariaceae and Bolbitiaceae in a
separate Strophariaceae and
relatives section rather than including them here with the true Cortinariales. |
Very few Cortinarius species are valued as edible fungi and several
are known to be deadly poisonous. In view of the identification difficulties
with this group of fungi, most people who collect wild mushrooms for food prefer
to steer well clear of all Cortinariales. |
