Species details

Goatcheese webcap

Cortinarius camphoratus

Inedible
Goatcheese webcap – Cortinarius camphoratus

Photo: Jose Angel Urquia Goitia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License

Description

A pale to amethyst-violet webcap with violet young gills and a very strong unpleasant smell.

Identification features

The cap is dry and silky-fibrillose. Gills start blue-violet and become cinnamon to rusty brown. The stem is pale violet; cortina remnants are sparse.

Identification checklist

Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A pale to amethyst-violet webcap with violet young gills and a very strong unpleasant smell. The cap is dry and silky-fibrillose. Gills start blue-violet and become cinnamon to rusty brown. The stem is pale violet; cortina remnants are sparse. Mainly in acidic coniferous woodland, less often deciduous woodland; late summer to autumn.

Detailed features

Cap
A pale to amethyst-violet webcap with violet young gills and a very strong unpleasant smell.
Hymenophore
The cap is dry and silky-fibrous. The gills are initially blue-violet, later cinnamon to rusty-brown. The stem is pale violet and veil remnants are sparse.
Flesh
Violet to pale brownish.
Smell
Strong unpleasant smell.
Spore print
Rust-brown.

Size

Cap diameter
5–9 cm
Stem height
5–10 cm
Stem diameter
1–2 cm

Habitat

Mainly in acidic coniferous woodland, less often deciduous woodland; late summer to autumn.

Fruiting period

August, September, October

Ecology

Trophic mode
Mycorrhizal
Host trees
Spruce (Picea)
Substrate
Forest soil
Soil
Acidic
Notes
Mycorrhizal species. Mainly in acidic coniferous woodland, less often deciduous woodland; late summer to autumn.

How to separate similar species

Compare especially with: Cortinarius traganus, Cortinarius alboviolaceus, Cortinarius violaceus. A single feature or photograph is not sufficient for reliable identification.

Similar species

Interesting facts

Did you know? The strong unpleasant smell is more diagnostic than the violet colour alone, which occurs in other webcaps too.

Extended-description sources