Cortinarius (Pers.) Gray
(webcap toadstools)

Subtaxon Example images Rank Featured
subtaxa
No of
images
No of
ID refs
 (Click to open)
Subgenus 2 subtaxa 30 images 3 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 6 images
 (Click to open)
Species 27 images
 (Click to open)
Species 33 images
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 34 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 2 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 32 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 22 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 42 images 1 ident. refs
Species 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Cap (Click to open)
Species 2 subtaxa 47 images 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 3 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 19 images
Species 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open) (Click to open) (Click to open)
Species 23 images 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 22 images
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 33 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 12 images
 (Click to open)
Species 9 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 9 images
 (Click to open)
Species 89 images
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 11 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 22 images 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 11 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 43 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 57 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 13 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 9 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 11 images
Cap (Click to open)
Species 11 images 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 26 images 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 19 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 11 images
Species 1 subtaxa 2 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 29 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 3 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Cap (Click to open)
Species 5 images 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 16 images 1 ident. refs
Species 2 subtaxa 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 12 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 50 images 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 18 images
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Fruitbody (Click to open)
Species 11 images
 (Click to open)
Species 13 images 4 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Species 10 images
Cap (Click to open)
Species 15 images 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
Species 2 ident. refs
Species 1 ident. refs
 (Click to open)
Unidentified 30 images
 (Click to open)
Unidentified 25 images
Taxonomic hierarchy:
GenusCortinarius (webcap toadstools)
FamilyCORTINARIACEAE (webcaps, rootshanks and the gypsy)
OrderAGARICALES (mushrooms and toadstools)
SubclassAGARICOMYCETIDAE (a subclass of basidiomycetes)
ClassAGARICOMYCETES (a class of fungi)
SubphylumAGARICOMYCOTINA (a subphylum of fungi)
PhylumBASIDIOMYCOTA (spore droppers, basidiomycetes)
KingdomFUNGI (true fungi)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)

Identification Works

AuthorYearTitleSource
Brandrud, T.E., Lindström, H., Marklund, H., Melot, J. & Muskos, S. 1990 Cortinarius: Flora Photographica Photoflora
Høiland, K. Key to Cortinarius subgenus Dermocybe - In the Nordic countries folk.uio.no/klaush/dermocyb.htm
Kühner, R. & Romagnesi, H. 1955 Compléments a la "Flore analytique" IV: Espéces nouvelles ou critiques de Cortinarius Bull. mens. Soc. linn. Lyon 24ieme Anné, No 2: 39-54.
Orton, P.D. 1983 Some notes on the genus Cortinarius in Britain Sydowia, Annales Mycologici Ser. II Vol XXXVI.
Orton, P.D. 1980 Notes on British Agarics: VII Notes R.B.G. Edinburgh Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh Vol 38 (3): 315-330.
Orton, P.D. 1958 Cortinarius II (Inoloma, Dermocybe) The Naturalist, supplement, 2, 69pp, Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union (YNU)
Orton, P.D. 1955 Cortinarius I (Myxacium, Phlegmacium) The Naturalist, supplement, 1, 80pp, Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union (YNU)
Soop, K. 2008 Cortinarius in Sweden 11th edition, 180pp, Editions Scientrix
Soop, K. Karl Soop’s Mycology page karl.soop.org/English/myco.html
Soop, K. Journées européennes du Cortinaire www.jec-cortinarius.org/index.htm
Stridvall, L. & A. Cortinarius on Leif & Anita Stridvall’s Botanical Site www.stridvall.se/fungi/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Cortinarius

Section Bicolores And Section Saturnini

Liimatainen, K., Carteret, X., Dima, B., Kytövuori, I., Bidaud, A. Reumaux, P., Niskanen, T., Ammirati, J.F. & Bellanger, J.-M. 2017 Cortinarius section Bicolores and section Saturnini (Basidiomycota, Agaricales), a morphogenetic overview of European and North American species Persoonia Vol 39: 175-200.
Liimatainen, K., Carteret, X., Dima, B., Kytövuori, I., Bidaud, A. Reumaux, P., Niskanen, T., Ammirati, J.F. & Bellanger, J.-M. 2017 Cortinarius section Bicolores and section Saturnini (Basidiomycota, Agaricales), a morphogenetic overview of European and North American species Persoonia Vol 39: 175-200.

Cortinarius (webcap toadstools) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Cortinarius (webcap toadstools)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 443 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for Cortinarius (webcap toadstools)

Cortinarius is a difficult genus to identify and Telamonia are the most difficult.

Colour of young gills - cut the cap in half. (The gills always turn brown as the spores ripen so must be a young cap.)
Colour of veil on young fruitbodies. (This often disappears and always gets stained rusty by the spores, so again, must be a young fruitbody.)
Presence of blue tinges on young gills, stipe apex or flesh - cut in half (again, use a young fruitbody as the blue often fades).
Smell.
If there is no fresh young cap to cut in half, unless it’s one of the distinctive species - forget it!

cap hygrophanous (ie changes colours when imbibed with moisture)
cap non-scaly
neither cap nor stipe sticky

Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material on the BioImages website by Malcolm Storey is licensed under the above Creative Commons Licence.

Photographs from other photographers are used with permission but not included under the above CC licence.

BioImages - Virtual Field-Guide (UK)