Summary:
Subgenus Phlegmacium. Distinctive features are a viscid yellow cap when young that becomes brown from the center outward, violet-tinged flesh, yellow gills, and a dry stem with a bulb.

Cap:
5-15cm across, convex with inrolled margin when young, becoming broadly convex or flat; at first yellow but darkening slowly to cinnamon brown, orange-brown, or reddish brown from center outward, the margin often remaining yellowish; surface smooth, viscid or slimy when moist, (Arora), 8-15cm across, convex with inrolled margin for a long time; pallid yellow at first, later the center becoming brick reddish, when old almost purple-brown; very glutinous at first, (Phillips), up to 12cm across, round when young, expanding to flat; yellow soon changing to brick red and then to the color of raw steak; slimy, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Flesh:
thick, firm; pallid to pale yellow with distinct lavender or violet areas near cap surface and in stem, often ochraceous-yellow in stem base, (Arora), lavender under cap surface, otherwise pallid whitish, (Phillips), pale lavender in cap, shimmery geranium-pink in stem, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Gills:
adnate to adnexed, close; yellow or sometimes greenish yellow when young, dull cinnamon brown when old, "but often with an intermediate lavender to dull purple phase", (Arora), "adnexed; pallid yellowish then rusty", (Phillips), broad, with intermediates, honey yellow at first, then light brown; serrate, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Stem:
4-12cm x 1.5-3cm thick at top, with conspicuous, abrupt, rimmed basal bulb (3-7cm wide) at least when young, stem solid; color variable, pale lavender or yellow at top or throughout, becoming dingy or often rusty-stained when old, the bulb usually yellow; stem not viscid, (Arora), 5-12cm x 1.3-2.5cm at top, "with a large rounded marginate bulb" up to 5cm wide; whitish, with pale lavender touches, more yellow on bulb, (Phillips), up to 10cm tall and 2.5cm wide at top, sturdy, tall with an abrupt basal bulb; buff, streaked with reddish-brownish fibers, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Veil:
cortina pale yellow to greenish yellow, usually leaving hairs on stem, (Arora)

Odor:
mild (Arora), not distinctive (Phillips), radish (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Taste:
pleasant (Phillips)

Microscopic spores:
spores 11-14 x 6.5-8 microns, elliptic, rough, (Arora), 10-13 x 6.5-8 microns, almond-shaped, warty, (Phillips)

Spore deposit:
rusty brown (Arora)

Notes:
Cortinarius cedretorum occurs in southern OR but is commoner in northern CA (M. Seidl, pers. comm.). It was reported by Schalkwijk-Barendsen(1) from AB. DNA sequencing indicates its presence in BC (Harrower(1)). Cortinarius cedretorum is also found in Europe.

EDIBILITY

unknown (Arora, Phillips)