Webcap changeable (Cortinarius varius) photo and description

Variable webcap (Cortinarius varius)

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 varius

Other names:

  • Spider web multicolored

  • Webcap brick brown sticky

Changeable webcap

External description

A hat with a diameter of 4-8 (12) cm, at first hemispherical with a curved edge, then convex with a lowered, often curved edge, with brownish remnants of the veil along the edge, slimy, red, orange-brownish with a lighter yellowish edge and dark red-brown the middle.

The plates are frequent, adherent with a tooth, at first bright purple, then leathery, pale brown. The cobweb cover is white, clearly visible in young mushrooms.

Spore powder, yellow-brown.

Leg: 4-10 cm long and 1-3 cm in diameter, clavate, sometimes with a thick nodule, silky, whitish, then ocher with a fibrous-silky yellow-brown belt.

The pulp is dense, whitish, sometimes with a faint musty odor.

Spread

It grows from July to the end of September in coniferous and broad-leaved forests, found in more southern and eastern regions.

Edibility

It is considered a conditionally edible (or edible) mushroom, is highly valued in foreign Europe, it is used fresh (boiling for about 15-20 minutes, pour the broth) in second courses, can be pickled.