Cortinarius glaucopus
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Cortinarius glaucopus, commonly known as the blue-foot webcap, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Cortinarius native to Europe and North America.
The species was first described as Agaricus glaucopus by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774.[2] It was given its current name by Elias Magnus Fries in 1838.[3] Within the genus Cortinarius, it is classified in the subgenus Phlegmacium and section Glaucopodes. A 2014 genetic study confirmed it was syonymous with C. glaucopoides and that Cortinarius subrubrovelatus was a distinct species. Other close relatives include C. subfoetens and C. pansa [4] Common names in other languages include Schwachknolliger Klumpfuss (German), Cortinaire à pied glauque (French) and Szálaskalapú pókhálósgomba (Hungarian).[5]
The fruit bodies of this fungus have convex caps 4 to 10 cm (1.6 to 3.9 in) across and ochre or tawny in colour with prominent darker brown fibres.[6] Like other members of the genus, young mushrooms are covered in a web-like veil (cortina) from the cap margin to the stipe.[7] The bulbous stipe is pale lilac-blue initially with lower parts fading to yellow-white. The flesh is yellow-white with a blue hue in the upper stipe. The lilac-blue gills are adnate or free, and become brown as the spores mature. The smell, if present, is slightly mealy. The spore print is red-brown and the spores measure 6.5–8.5 by 4.5–5 µm.[6]
Fruit bodies appear from August onwards into autumn in deciduous and coniferous forests, often in profuse numbers.[7] It can be found in fairy rings.[8]
Cortinarius glaucopus is found in Western North America (both the United States and Canada),[9] and is common in the Rocky Mountains.[8] It is rare east of the Great Plains;[9] it is rare in the British Isles.[6]
C. glaucopus forms ectomycorrhizae that are unusually hydrophobic (water-repellent) compared with other fungi, which has led to interest in decoding its genome. DNA studies indicate it may decompose toxic polycyclic aromatic compounds in the soil with specially adapted oxidizing enzymes.[10] The flesh is mild-tasting,[6] and not highly regarded. Older guidebooks regard it as edible,[7] yet it is now considered suspect.[6] In Tlaxcala, Mexico it is collected in June and sold in the market.[11]
See also
References
- ↑ "Cortinarius glaucopus (Schaeff.) Fr.". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ↑ Schaeffer JC. (1774). Fungorum qui in Bavaria et Palatinatu Nascuntur Icones (in Latin) 4. p. 23.
- ↑ Fries EM. (1838). Epicrisis Systematis Mycologici: Seu Synopsis Hymenomycetum [A Critical Study of Mycology: A Synopsis of the Hymenomycetes] (in Latin) 1–2. Uppsala, Sweden: Regiae Academiae Typographia. p. 264.
- ↑ Liimatainen K, Niskanen T, Dima B, Kytövuori I, Ammirati JF, Frøslev TG. (2014). "The largest type study of Agaricales species to date: bringing identification and nomenclature of Phlegmacium (Cortinarius) into the DNA era". Persoonia 33: 98–140. doi:10.3767/003158514X684681. PMC 4312940. PMID 25737596.
- ↑ Phillips R (2015). "Cortinarius glaucopus". RogersMushrooms. Rogers Plants Ltd. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Phillips R. (2006). Mushrooms. London, UK: Pan MacMillan. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-330-44237-4.
- 1 2 3 Haas H. (1969). The Young Specialist Looks at Fungi. London, UK: Burke. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-222-79409-3.
- 1 2 Evenson VS (1997). Mushrooms of Colorado and the Southern Rocky Mountains. Big Earth Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 9781565791923.
- 1 2 McKnight KH, Peterson RT, McKnight VB (1998). A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcour. p. 291. ISBN 9780395910900.
- ↑ "Cortinarius glaucopus". JGI: Mycocosm: The Fungal Genomics Resource. The Regents of the University of California. 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ↑ Montoya A, Kong A, Estrada-Torres A, Cifuentes J, Caballero J. "Useful wild fungi of La Malinche National Park, Mexico" (PDF). Fungal Diversity. Chiang Mai, Thailand: The Mushroom Research Foundation. pp. 115–43. Retrieved 2 September 2015.