Girdled Webcap

Description

The girdled webcap is one of the larger webcaps: the cap is 5–12 cm across, smooth and very slimy, olive to ochre-brown in wet weather and shiny straw-yellow in dry weather. The gills are watery brown at first, rusty with time. It is easiest to recognise by its stem, which is covered with a thick layer of slime that dries into darker transverse bands.

It grows from July to October in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, also in peat bogs, most often under spruces, firs, aspens, beeches and oaks. It is a pioneer fungus and also appears on wasteland, dikes, spoil heaps and embankments.

This mushroom is inedible. No poisonings with this species have been recorded, but the genus Cortinarius includes species containing the highly poisonous orellanine, and webcaps are easily confused with one another. Do not collect it for eating.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter (3–)5–12 cm; bell-shaped or hemispherical with an inrolled margin when young, later convex, finally flat with a broad, blunt umbo. Surface smooth: shiny and straw-yellow in dry weather, slimy in wet weather, from olive to ochre-yellow-brown; margin paler. Young fruiting bodies may have a bluish or greyish-blue tint that fades quickly.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills moderately close, adnate or notched at the stem, covered in young specimens by a whitish cortina. Watery brown when young with a faint violet or greyish-blue tint, becoming rusty brown to cinnamon brown as the spores mature.

Stem

Height 5–12(–15) cm, thickness 1–2 cm; solid, cylindrical, tapering towards the base, yellowish or rusty. Covered with a thick layer of slime forming transverse ridges; when dry, these turn into darker, scaly, band-like girdles – a characteristic feature of the species. In dry weather the slime forms a transparent film on the stipe. Between the gills and the cortina the stipe is white and without slime; the cortina is whitish, turning brownish from the spores.

Flesh

Whitish or yellowish, bluish only at the top of the cap; firm, with a faint taste and smell. The flesh should not be tasted – the genus includes deadly poisonous species.

Spore print and spores

Spore print rusty brown. Spores almond-shaped or semi-ellipsoid, weakly warty, 10–15 × 5–8 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Mycorrhizal fungus growing on the ground, also in peat bogs. Partners: silver fir, Norway spruce, European aspen, beeches and oaks. A pioneer species – together with trees it colonises wasteland, dikes, spoil heaps and embankments.

Distribution. Europe and North America; the most widespread of the slimy webcaps. Grows in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests. No detailed data on distribution in Poland. Not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. From July to October.

What can it be confused with?

• Cortinarius collinitus — Also a slimy webcap; only C. trivialis has a stem with numerous transverse bands of slime. No further data.
• Cortinarius cliduchus — No data on differences. Other slimy webcaps are distinguished from this species by the absence of the characteristic transverse bands on the stem.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The characteristic transverse bands on the stem arise from a thick layer of slime, which cracks as it dries and forms darker, scaly ribbons.
• It is a pioneer fungus: together with the trees with which it forms mycorrhiza, it colonises wasteland, dikes, spoil heaps and embankments.
• The Polish name was given by Andrzej Nespiak in 1975; for a short time the name "zasłonak śluzowaty" (slimy webcap) was also in use.
• It is the most widespread of the slimy webcaps and is one of the larger webcaps.