Blue-stemmed Webcap (Cortinarius collinitus)

Cortinarius collinitus

Coniferous and deciduous forests. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies medium-sized. Cap 5-8 (10) cm across, convex-flattened, conical-bell-shaped, eventually flattened with a blunt umbo, very slimy, reddish-brown, chestnut-coloured. Veil white, bluish. Young gills bluish, violet, later greyish-brown, reddish-brown, adnate. Stem 7-12x0.5-2 cm, of uniform thickness, when young enveloped in a bluish, slimy veil which turns brown as the mushroom ages and cracks into irregular fragments. Flesh whitish, yellowish, odourless, not bitter. Characteristic features: slimy chestnut-coloured cap, stem bluish, violet. Grows in small groups in coniferous forests, especially sphagnum pine forests, less often in deciduous forests. Edible. Common.