Cortinarius erythraeus

Cortinarius erythraeus is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus Cortinarius native to Australia.

Cortinarius erythraeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Division:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Subgenus:
Myxacium
Species:
C. erythraeus
Binomial name
Cortinarius erythraeus
Berk. 1845
Synonyms[1]

Cortinarius ruber Cleland, 1928

English botanist Miles Joseph Berkeley described this species as a "blood red" mushroom, "clothed with a thick gelatinous coat" in 1845, from the writings and specimens of James Drummond, from the vicinity of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.[2] The species name is derived from the Ancient Greek word erythros "red". John Burton Cleland described Cortinarius ruber in 1928 from a collection in Kinchina, South Australia. Later analysis indicated it was the same species as C. erythraeus.[1]

The fruitbodies of this fungus have hemispherical to convex brick- to brown-red caps, with diameters up to 5 cm (2.0 in) and covered with a layer of slime.[1] The cap centre may be depressed or raised (umbonate) with a boss. The cap margins are curved inwards and smooth. The gills on the cap underside have a subdecurrent attachment to the stipe. Initially light tan or clay-coloured, they deepen to rusty brown as the spores mature. The cinnabar red stipe is cylindrical to slightly bulbous, up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in height and 1 cm (0.39 in) in width. Its lower part, below the remnants of the veil, are covered in slime. The flesh is white. The mushroom has no particular taste or smell, and stains red-purple when potassium hydroxide is applied to it. The spore print is rust-brown, and the oval warty spores measure 8–10 by 5–7 µm.[1]

Cortinarius erythraeus grows with marri (Corymbia calophylla), wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo),[1] and jarrah (E. marginata) in Western Australia.[3]

See also

References

  1. Horak E, Wood AE (1990). "Cortinarius Fr. (Agaricales) in Australasia. 1. Subgen. Myxacium and subgen. Paramyxacium" (PDF). Sydowia. 42: 88–168.
  2. Berkeley MJ (1845). "Decades of fungi. Dec. III-VII. Australian fungi". London Journal of Botany. 4: 42–73 [48].
  3. Dell, Bernard; Havel, J.J.; Malajczuk, N. (2012). The Jarrah Forest: A Complex Mediterranean Ecosystem. New York, New York: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 91. ISBN 978-94-009-3111-4.
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