Fleshy Fungi of New Brunswick >> Cortinarius malicorius

Cortinarius malicorius Fr.

Gregarious (6) among mosses, leaf and needle litter at margin of driveway, associated with Abies balsamea and Betula papyrifera, Little Lepreau, New Brunswick (28-09-19/01).

Basidiospores orange brown in spore print (HSV35:70:60-70), broadly ellipsoidal, finely roughened, darkening in KOH but not significantly so in Melzer’s Solution, 5.0-6.7 x 3.6-4.7 μm, Q = 1.20-1.45 (average[30]: 5.5 x 4.1 μm, Q = 1.35). Basidia 4-spored, clamped at the base. Hymenial cystidia lacking. Lamellar trama parallel, of pale yellow brown hyphae with only very obscure encrustation, with clamp connections throughout, releasing a diffuse purple-brown pigment in KOH but not otherwise changing in colour. Pileus trama parallel, without conspicuous encrustations, releasing a diffuse purple brown pigment in KOH but not otherwise changing in colour. Pileipellis a thin pale cutis of narrow hyphae above a dark brown subpellis of broader hyphae, with pigments very finely encrusted but possibly also intracellular, with clamp connections present throughout.

With its brighly coloured lamellae, Cortinarius malicorius is a typical member of the subgenus Cortinarius, section Dermocybe. The species is recognized by its orange lamellae and small broad basidiospores. Collection 28-09-19/01 is quite typical of its species except for the colour of the cut flesh, which is yellow rather than olivaceous as described for Europen collections in Funga Nordica. The field notes for Collection 28-09-19/01 record the colour of the lamellae as bright orange (HSV40:90:100) although the photograph shows them as a more yellow-orange colour. It is likely the photograph is slightly inaccurate.

Photograph: D. Malloch (28-09-19/01).