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The bright red cobweb mushroom (Cortinarius erythrinus) is a lamellar mushroom belonging to the Cobweb family and the Cobweb genus. It was first described by the Swedish botanist, the founder of the science of mycology, Elias Fries in 1838. Its other scientific name is Agaricus caesius, since 1818.
Description of the bright red spider web
The bright red cobweb consists of a cap and a relatively long, thin stalk. If the mushrooms have sprouted through a thick layer of moss, the stems can be three times the diameter of the caps, remaining no more than 0.7 cm thick.
The bright red cobweb often hides in thickets of moss, exposing only the tops to the surface
Description of the cap
Only the newly emerged fruiting bodies have rounded bell-shaped caps. As they grow, they straighten out, first acquiring a regular spherical or umbrella shape, then becoming almost straight, outstretched. In the center of most specimens a pointed tubercle and a cup-shaped depression are clearly visible. The edges are at first tucked in, then become slightly directed downward, and in overgrowths they can rise, showing a serrated edge of the hymenophore. The diameter is usually from 0.8 to 2.5 cm, very rare specimens grow up to 3-5 cm.
The color of young specimens is uneven, the center of the cap is noticeably darker, the edges are light. From rich chocolate to pinkish-brown, soft chestnut and beige shades. In overgrown specimens, the color becomes uniformly dark, black-chocolate or purple-chestnut. The surface is smooth, matte, slightly velvety, with clearly visible radial fibers. In overgrown ones, it is covered with small wrinkles, shiny in bright light and in damp weather.
The plates of the hymenophore are sparse, jagged-accreted, of different lengths. Quite wide and uneven. Color can vary from creamy ocher, dirty red and milky coffee to dark brown with reddish and bluish shades. Reddish-purple and purple spots are often found. The spore powder has a brownish color. The pulp is light brown, dirty purple or reddish chocolate, thin, elastic.
The hymenophore plates have unevenly jagged, curved edges
Description of the leg
The bright red cobweb has a cylindrical, hollow, often curved, tortuous stalk, with distinct longitudinal filament grooves. The surface is matte, slightly damp. The color is uneven, with spots and longitudinal lines, from creamy yellowish and soft beige to pink-brown and purple-chestnut; the cap may have a violet-brown tint. Its length is from 1.3 to 4 cm, some specimens reach 6-7 cm, thickness varies from 0.3 to 0.7 cm.
Most of the leg is covered with grayish-silver fluff.
Where and how does it grow
The bright red cobweb appears in the forests early, in May, as soon as the earth warms up. Myceliums bear fruit until the end of June. They rarely produce a second harvest, which occurs in early to mid-autumn. Distributed in temperate and subtropical climate zones, in the central and southern regions of Russia, in Europe.
They prefer damp places, grass thickets and moss hummocks. They grow mainly in deciduous forests, next to birches, lindens and oaks. Can also be found in spruce forests. They grow in small, sparsely located groups. This mushroom is rare.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
The bright red cobweb has been little studied due to its miniature size and extremely low nutritional value. It is of no interest to mushroom pickers. There is no verified data on its chemical composition and effect on the human body in the public domain.
Doubles and their differences
The bright red cobweb is extremely similar to some types of related mushrooms.
- Splendid web spider (Cortinarius evernius). Inedible, non-toxic. It is distinguished by the delicate color of its caps, the color of milk chocolate, and the encircling tubercles on the legs.
The legs are noticeably thicker, fleshy, abundantly covered with white down.
- Chestnut cobweb. Conditionally edible. This is an autumn mushroom that bears fruit in August-September in deciduous forests and wet spruce forests.Comment! Previously, this type of spider web was considered identical to the bright red one. Studies at the cellular level have revealed differences between these fungal species.
The caps of the fruiting bodies are reddish-brown or sandy-brown, the hymenophore is distinctly yellowish
Conclusion
The bright red cobweb is a small, little-studied lamellar mushroom. It is found very rarely in deciduous and mixed birch-spruce forests, in grass and among mosses. Loves damp places. Grows in small groups from May to June. There is no exact data on its edibility.
