| Cortinarius erythraeus | |
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| Subgenus: | Myxacium
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| Species: | C. erythraeus
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| Binomial name | |
| Cortinarius erythraeus Berk. 1845
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Cortinarius ruber Cleland, 1928 | |
Cortinarius erythraeus, sometimes known as the Jammie Dodger, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus Cortinarius native to Australia.
English botanist Miles Joseph Berkeley described this species as a "blood red" mushroom, "clothed with a thick gelatinous coat" in 1845, from the writings and specimens of James Drummond, from the vicinity of the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.[2] The species name is derived from the Ancient Greek word erythros "red". John Burton Cleland described Cortinarius ruber in 1928 from a collection in Kinchina, South Australia. Later analysis indicated it was the same species as C. erythraeus.[1]
The fruitbodies of this fungus have hemispherical to convex brick- to brown-red caps, with diameters up to 5 cm (2.0 in) and covered with a layer of slime.[1] The cap centre may be depressed or raised (umbonate) with a boss. The cap margins are curved inwards and smooth. The gills on the cap underside have a subdecurrent attachment to the stipe. Initially light tan or clay-coloured, they deepen to rusty brown as the spores mature. The cinnabar red stipe is cylindrical to slightly bulbous, up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in height and 1 cm (0.39 in) in width. Its lower part, below the remnants of the veil, are covered in slime. The flesh is white. The mushroom has no particular taste or smell, and stains red-purple when potassium hydroxide is applied to it. The spore print is rust-brown, and the oval warty spores measure 8–10 by 5–7 μm.[1]
Cortinarius erythraeus grows with marri (Corymbia calophylla), wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo),[1] and jarrah (E. marginata) in Western Australia.[3]