Cortinarius torvus

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Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods, including beech and both red and white oaks; growing scattered to gregariously; spring, summer, and fall; probably widely distributed in eastern North America.

Cap: 3-8 cm; convex or irregular at first, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; dry; very finely silky or, in age, nearly bald; quite variable in color but generally lilac brown when young, fading markedly as it dries out to grayish lilac (often reminiscent of Lactarius argillaceifolius) or silvery--and eventually to a wishy-washy tan; the margin inrolled well into maturity.

Gills: Attached to the stem; nearly distant; brownish purple when young, becoming rusty brown; covered by a whitish cortina when young.

Stem: 4-10 cm long; up to 1.5 cm thick at the apex; tapering to a club-shaped, swollen base; dry; pale purple above when fresh and young but later silvery to whitish or faintly brownish; sheathed or "booted" from the base with whitish to lilac gray veil material that often terminates in a folded-over, fragile ring.

Flesh: Whitish, or with purple to gray shades in the stem.

Odor: Strong and sickly sweet.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative to gray on cap; grayish to gray on flesh.

Spore Print: Rusty brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-11.5 x 4.5-6 ; ellipsoid, with a narrowed apicular end; weakly to moderately verrucose. Cheilo- and pleurocystidia absent, but subclavate, septate marginal cells present on gill edges. Pileipellis a cutis of hyaline to brownish, occasionally encrusted elements.

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