Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Cortinarius cicindela

Cortinarius cicindela Kytöv., Niskanen & Liimat.

Gregarious (7) on Sphagnum gametophytes in forest dominated by Picea rubens, Abies balsamea and Betula papyrifera, Kennedy Lakes Protected Natural Area, New Brunswick (03-07-19/01).

Basidiospores reddish brown in spore print, ellipsoidal, coarsly roughened (especially at the apex), darkening slightly in Melzer’s Solution, 7.4-10.8 x 4.2-6.4 &mu:m, Q = 1.47-1.88 (average[42]: 8.5 x 5.3 μm, Q = 1.61). Lamellar trama parallel, with hyphae clamped and strongly encrusted externally.

Cortinarius cicindela is a member of Cortinarius sect. Brunnei, a group of usually brown mushrooms with hygrophanous caps and which become markedly blackened when dried, a feature seen in the photo here. It has been reported a number of times in northern Europe where it characteristically grows among Sphagnum mosses in habitats with spruce. Collection 04-07-19/08 differs somewhat from those described from Europe in having narrower basidiospores. In fact the basidiospores would place it closer to the related species C. carabus except that its habitat in bogs contrasts with the sandy pine heaths where C. carabus occurs.

Photograph: D. Malloch (04-07-19/08).