Excellent webcap (Cortinarius praestans) photo and description

Superb webcap (Cortinarius praestans)

Systematics:
  • Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
  • Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
  • Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
  • Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
  • Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
  • Family: Cortinariaceae (Spiderwebs)
  • Genus: Cortinarius (Webcap)
  • Species: Cortinarius praestans (Excellent webcap)

Superb webcap (Cortinarius praestans)

The excellent webcap (Cortinarius praestans) is a mushroom belonging to the Spiderweb family.

External description

The fruit body of an excellent spider web is lamellar, consisting of a cap and a leg. On the surface of the mushroom, you can see the remains of a spider web cover.

The diameter of the cap can reach 10-20 cm, and its shape in young mushrooms is hemispherical. As the fruit bodies mature, the cap opens to a convex, flat, and sometimes even slightly depressed cap. The surface of the mushroom cap is fibrous and velvety to the touch; in mature mushrooms, its edge becomes pronouncedly wrinkled. In immature fruiting bodies, the color is close to purple, and in mature ones it becomes red-brown and even wine. At the same time, a purple tint is preserved along the edges of the cap.

The hymenophore of the fungus is represented by plates located on the back of the cap and adhered to the surface of the stem with their notches. The color of these plates is grayish in young mushrooms, and beige-brown in mature ones. The plates contain a rusty-brown spore powder consisting of almond-shaped spores with a warty surface.

The length of the leg of the excellent spider web varies within 10-14 cm, and the thickness is 2-5 cm. At the base, a tuberous thickening is clearly visible on it, and the remains of the cortina are clearly visible on the surface. The color of the leg in immature excellent spider webs is represented by a pale purple tint, and in mature fruit bodies of this species it is pale ocher or whitish.

The pulp of the mushroom is characterized by a pleasant aroma and taste; it acquires a brown color in contact with alkaline products. In general, it has a white, sometimes bluish color.

Superb webcap (Cortinarius praestans)

Season and habitat

The excellent webcap (Cortinarius praestans) is widespread in the nemoral regions of Europe, but is rare there. Some European countries even included this type of mushroom in the Red Book as rare and endangered. The fungus of this species grows in large groups and lives in mixed and deciduous forests. May form mycorrhiza with beech or other deciduous trees growing in the forest. It often settles near birches, begins to bear fruit in August and gives good yields throughout September.

Edibility

The excellent webcap (Cortinarius praestans) is an edible but little-studied mushroom. It can be dried, as well as - eaten salted or pickled.

Similar types and differences from them

The excellent spider web (Cortinarius praestans) has one similar species - the watery blue spider web. True, in the latter, the cap has a bluish-gray color and a smooth edge, covered with a cobweb cortina.