Deadly
Deadly webcap
Cortinarius rubellus
The character that does the work
A rusty-spored, cobwebby-veiled mushroom in conifer woods. The genus Cortinarius is enormous, poorly known and contains species that destroy kidneys, and it is the genus a careful forager simply leaves alone.
Orellanine
The longest delay in mycology by a wide margin, and it means the meal is almost never connected to the illness. Anyone with unexplained kidney failure who forages should tell their doctor so, even about a meal a fortnight old.
Orellanine poisoning, in fullThe specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
3 to 8 cm, tawny orange-brown, dry, finely fibrous, usually with a distinct pointed umbo at the centre.
02Underside
Widely spaced rusty-orange gills, attached.
03Stem, and the base
Slender, paler than the cap, with yellowish bands or fibrous zones, and traces of a cobwebby veil in young specimens.
04Flesh, cut
Yellowish to pale ochre.
05Spore print
06Where it grows
Damp coniferous woodland, usually with spruce, often among moss and bilberry.
07Smell
Faintly of radish.
When to look
Typically Aug to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Northern Europe, and reported in parts of North America.
What is worth knowing about it
The reason this species matters out of proportion to how often it is met: orellanine causes NO symptoms for two days to three weeks. By the time anyone feels ill the kidneys have already been destroyed, and the usual outcome for a serious dose is permanent dialysis or transplant. There is no delay this long in any other common poisoning, which means the connection to a meal eaten a fortnight earlier is frequently never made.
Confused with
- Chanterelle
- Edible webcaps
- Honey mushroom
This page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
Others in this group