Cortinarius (Pers.) Gray
Cortinarius is the largest genus of Agaricales with a cosmopolitan distribution and over 2000 described species (Kirk et al. 2008). The species are important ectomycorrhizal fungi and are associated with trees and shrubs, belonging to the families Fagaceae, Salicaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Cistaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Myrtaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosacea and Pinaceae, as well as some herbaceous plants in the Cyperaceae and Polygonaceae. Revealing the true diversity of species using only morphological and ecological characteristics has proven to be a difficult if not an impossible task. Cortinarius sect. Fulvescentes Melot and Cortinarius sect. Laeti Melot were initially included in subgenus Telamonia (Brandrud et al. 1998), but recent phylogenetic analyses suggest that they form a distinct lineage in genus Cortinarius (Peintner et al. 2004; Harrower et al. 2011; Garnica et al. 2016). These two sections were traditionally distinguished from one another by the colour of the universal veil; the species of the section Fulvescentes have pinkish to vinaceous universal veil and species of the section Laeti yellow to ochraceous veil, but sometimes the veil is very indistinct and difficult to observe. The phylogenetic analysis of Harrower et al. (2011) and Garnica et al. (2016), however, suggested that the division based on the veil colour is at least partly unnatural, and it seems a likely hypothesis based on our analysis too. Additional studies are needed to reveal the natural divisions within the clade Fulvescentes/Laeti. Characteristics of the species in these two sections are mat (dull and flat without a shine), hygrophanous pileus, silky-shiny fibrillose stipe, uniformly yellowish-brown context in the stipe, and indistinct smell.
Species