E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Summary:
Subgenus Phlegmacium. Features include brown viscid cap that is violet at margin, whitish young gills that may be violet-tinged, and dry white or violaceous stem. Moser gives habitat of Cortinarius balteatocumatilis (Henry) ex Orton described here as "especially coniferous woods", and of var. laetus which has cap brighter and crown foxy, as deciduous woods.

Cortinarius balteatocumatilis is found in Washington according to Stuntz (description given here for comparison): Stuntz notes pear odor, perhaps derived from the Smith(12) account of a collection from Olympic Hot Springs that had an odor like that of C. pyriodorus. DNA sequencing (number 43) indicates presence in BC (Harrower(1)); it is found also in Europe and north Africa. (Breitenbach(5)).

Cap:
7-10(17)cm across, hemispheric when young, later convex to flat and "often undulating and somewhat indented in the center", "margin incurved for a long time"; "pale violet to light violet-brown when young, later increasingly red-brown with a lilac marginal zone"; "smooth, dull to satiny when dry, shiny and lubricous when moist", (Breitenbach), 4-10cm across, violet at margin, at crown hazel- to umber-brown, (Moser), 10-30cm across, brown at center with bright bluish lavender margin; smooth, viscid, (Stuntz)

Flesh:
thick at cap center, thin toward margin; "whitish to pale lilac", (Breitenbach), thick; white, (Stuntz), hard; "whitish with violaceous tinges below cuticle" (Phillips)

Gills:
#ERROR!

Stem:
8-9cm x 2.5-4cm, "cylindrical to slightly clavate or somewhat tapered, fragile, solid"; fibrillose or indistinctly belted on whitish background from the violet veil, "later slightly browning toward the base, apex remaining pale violet for a long time", (Breitenbach), 6-7cm x 1.5-3cm, solid, firm; white or violaceous, +/- booted by veil, (Moser), 10-12.5cm x 1.8-4cm thick at top, 3-6cm at base, club-shaped; white or pale violet above, becoming brown below; fibrillose, (Stuntz), base with lilaceous purple veil (Courtecuisse)

Veil:
base with lilaceous purple veil (Courtecuisse)

Odor:
faintly earthy, (Breitenbach), earthy often strong (Courtecuisse), note the question of whether a taxon with over-ripe pear odor fits here, (Stuntz)

Taste:
mild, not unpleasant, (Breitenbach)

Microscopic spores:
spores 9.8-12.3 x 5.5-6.8 microns, almond-shaped to fusiform (can vary from one to the other in the same preparation), weakly to moderately verrucose, reddish ocher; basidia 4-spored, 28-38 x 7.5-9.5 microns, clavate, with basal clamp connection, "some with light yellow contents"; pleurocystidia not seen, marginal cells 22-37 x 5-7 microns, cylindric to clavate; septa with clamp connections, (Breitenbach), spores 11-13 x 6 microns (11-13 x 5 for var. laetus), (Moser), elliptic to almond-shaped, (Phillips); a collection from Olympic Hot Springs in WA had an odor like that of C. pyriodorus and spores 8-11 x 4.5-6 microns, (Smith, p.193)

Spore deposit:
rust (Phillips)