Analysis

Day 46: A more detailed analysis of its spores under the microscope has caused me to revise my original identification of this mushroom as Cortinarius salor to C. iodeoides, a species known to occur in the area just south of me by a few miles. That it was a Cortinarius was never in doubt. Observe the spiderwebby cortina (veil) which in this young specimen is still attached to both cap and stipe. This characteristic is what gives Cortinarius its genus epithet. That said, the genus is one of the largest in Fungi with well over a thousand species. Some can be identified by sight, but others require microscopic examination or chemical testing (I also did a chem test to separate two possible candidates, C. iodes and C. iodeoides).

My first attempt to obtain a spore print flopped miserably. I am always hesitant to murder a mushroom, so picked up a previously detached cap from the ground where it was lying upside down. I didn't take into account the rain which had occurred only a few hours earlier until I thought about it retrospectively. Oh, yeah, okay...all the spores washed out. Nobody home. Since I had a fairly good colony of cute little lilac Cortinarius, I figured I could sacrifice one in the name of science. After a day, a nice collection of brown spores had accumulated in the paper-lined petri dish. Then it was time to transfer them to the microscope. If my kitchen sprouts Cortinarius at some point in the future, no one should be surprised. Under magnification, the spores revealed themselves to be oval to almond-shaped, which immediately ruled out C. salor. Its spores are round. Spores 7μ in length distinguished it from C. iodes at 10μ.

You may have noticed that the spores in the above photo appear on a black background. This is because I use a darkfield microscope to make them more visible. In fact, other than the stereoscope I use to more closely observe macro characteristics of lichens, the darkfield is my most commonly used 'scope. It lives on my dining table, hence the comment about culturing Cortinarius in the kitchen. Generations of naturalists before me had to do with much less optimal working conditions, and most of them survived.

Cortinarius Iodeoides

Day 43: It shames me to admit it, but there are many things growing on my property which I have never bothered to identify; indeed, many of them might be unidentifiable by the means available to me, although there must be an equal number which should be fairly easy to sort out. Specifically, my yard sprouts mushrooms, most of which I've walked away from feeling assured of sinking in failure before putting a metaphorical toe in the water, but after thirty-plus years of observing them, these little purple guys convinced me that they might not pose as much of a challenge as I expected. I popped the cap off one and found brownish gills and a faint veil where the cap was separating from the stipe. The "spiderweb" veil was sufficient to place my specimen in Cortinarius, and the narrow stipe and lilac colouration suggested C. salor. Just for the heck of it, even though no significant enlargement was present at the base of the stipe, I decided to do a quick chem test to assure myself that it wasn't C. olympianus. Nope, the flesh did not turn red when I dripped ammonia on it. I will still beg my readers to allow me the right to be wrong. Cortinarius is a huge genus and I do not have descriptions for all the species it contains, but given that C. salor is common in our woods, that will be what I call this little lilac 'shroom until someone corrects me.

Update: examination of the spores has caused me to re-evaluate my original identification. I now believe this to be C. iodeoides. See post for 28 November 2020 for further details.