''Phlegmacium flavivelatum'' is a species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

-forming

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Cortinariaceae The Cortinariaceae are a large family of gilled mushrooms found worldwide, containing over 3200 species. The family takes its name from its largest genus, the varied species of the genus ''Cortinarius''. Many genera formerly in the Cortinariaceae ...

. First described in 2014 as ''Cortinarius flavivelatus'', it was reclassified in 2022 based on

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

data. The mushroom features a 5–8 cm viscid cap coloured olive-brown to ochraceous, emarginate (notched)

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

that change from pale-bluish to brownish, and a whitish

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

with distinctive yellow

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

remnants forming girdles. It is closely related to '' Phlegmacium pini'', which differs by having a white veil and larger

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s. The species is known to occur only in

boreal Boreal, northern, of the north. Derived from the name of the god of the north wind from Ancient Greek civilisation, Boreas (god), Boreas. It may also refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernand ...

coniferous forests in Sweden, where it was collected in a spruce

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

forest with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

trees.

Taxonomy

It was originally described in 2014 by the mycologists Ilkka Kytövuori, Kare Liimatainen and Tuula Niskanen who classified it as ''Cortinarius flavivelatus.'' The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected on 15 August 15 by Kytövuori (collection number 98-885) in Sweden. It was found in

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swede ...

province near Pajala, specifically in the Junosuando locality within a

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

. The habitat was a relatively dry ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...

'' (Norway spruce) heath forest that also contained ''Pinus'' (

) and ''Betula'' (

) trees, interspersed with open

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

areas. The

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

was originally classified in the (

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Phlegmacium'') of the large

genus ''

Cortinarius ''Cortinarius'' is a globally distributed genus of fungus in the family Cortinariaceae. Its members are commonly known by the names cortinar and webcap. It is suspected to be the largest genus of agarics, containing over 2,000 widespread species ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''flavivelatum'' (originally ''flavivelatus)'' refers to the yellow colour of the

universal veil In mycology, a universal veil is a temporary membranous tissue that fully envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled mushrooms. The developing Caesar's mushroom (''Amanita caesarea''), for example, which may resemble a small white sph ...

. In 2022 the species was transferred from ''Cortinarius'' and reclassified as ''Phlegmacium flavivelatum'' based on

data.

Description

''Cortinarius flavivelatus'' is a

-forming

characterised by a medium-sized fruiting body. The pileus (cap) measures 5–8 cm in width, initially hemispherical to convex, later becoming plano-convex. It has a viscid surface with fine, innate fibrils, coloured olive brown to

ochraceous Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

brown at the centre, fading to lighter tones at the margin, and displays

hygrophanous The adjective hygrophanous refers to the color change of mushroom tissue (especially the pileus surface) as it loses or absorbs water, which causes the pileipellis The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fr ...

streaking patterns. The

lamellae Lamella (: lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * Lame ...

(gills) are emarginate (a "notched" attachment to the stipe) and densely arranged. They have a distinctive pale-bluish colouration when young, later developing into pale brown with a bluish tint. The stipe (stem) measures 6–10 cm in length, with a thickness of 1–1.8 cm at the apex, widening to 1.5–2.5 cm at the base, making it club-shaped (clavate) to nearly cylindrical in shape. The stipe is predominantly whitish with a bluish tint observable at the apex. A defining feature of this species is its yellow

, which forms girdles on the stipe and has a somewhat viscid texture. The

context In semiotics, linguistics, sociology and anthropology, context refers to those objects or entities which surround a ''focal event'', in these disciplines typically a communicative event, of some kind. Context is "a frame that surrounds the event ...

(flesh) is white throughout the pileus and lower portions of the stipe, while displaying a bluish colour at the stipe apex. The fungus has an indistinct odour and shows no reaction when tested with

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...

solution ( KOH). Dried specimens (

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

) have a warm yellowish to reddish brown pileus and a whitish stipe. Under the microscope, ''Cortinarius flavivelatus'' shows distinctive features. The

basidiospore A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromos ...

s are almond to lemon-shaped, measuring about 9.1–10.9 by 5.0–5.9

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

, with a finely warty surface. The mushroom's internal structure contains various coloured elements: the spore-producing cells (

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

) are club-shaped and pale brown; the gill tissue contains dark granules; the stipe surface has entangled threads with reddish-black granules; and the

cap cuticle The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body. It covers the trama, the fleshy tissue of the fruit body. The pileipellis is more or less synonymous with the cuticle, but the cuticle generally describes th ...

consists of a gelatinous layer of

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

-brown threads over a well-developed reddish-brown layer beneath, both featuring dark brown granular deposits.

Similar species

The species is closely related to '' Phlegmacium pini'', which differs by having a white universal veil and larger

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

Habitat and distribution

''Cortinarius flavivelatus'' is known to occur only in boreal coniferous forests of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20051083 Cortinariaceae Fungi described in 2014 Fungi of Sweden Fungus species