Summary:
Subgenus Sericeocybe (Courtecuisse places in subgenus Cortinarius and Brandrud says "Its taxonomic position is somewhat disputed"). Features include 1) a viscid grayish brown cap (blue to grayish blue when very young) which soon becomes dry, 2) flesh that is blue to grayish blue when young, fading to white, but turning deep vinaceous red on exposure, 3) deep blue to grayish blue young gills that become grayish brown, and 4) blue to grayish blue stem. In Europe three species are recognized in the Cortinarius cyanites complex by Liimatainen(2).

Cap:
7-15cm across, broadly convex-umbonate to nearly flat or with a low umbo; "gray, or gray with brown tones where veil covers surface, sometimes with olive tones, edge often dull lilac, generally with brown blotches and streaks of appressed brown fibrils or fibrillose scales"; dry to subviscid, (Castellano), 4-10cm across, (hemi-)spheric, then flat-convex; grayish blue when very young, soon more (metallic) grayish brown, frequently with an olivaceous tinge; initially viscid to glutinous, soon dry, coarsely innately fibrillose to fibrillose (Brandrud), 7-15cm across, a mixture of violaceous purple and reddish brown colors; covered in brownish fibrils or scales, a touch slimy at first, then dry (Phillips)

Flesh:
blue to grayish blue when very young, soon fading to whitish or brownish white in cap and bulb, and turning to deep vinaceous red on exposure, at least when bruised (especially in bulb), (Brandrud), purple especially near exterior, "turning red after 2 or 3 minutes when cut or bruised", (Phillips)

Gills:
adnate to adnexed; "blue violet to gray with slight blue cast, finally brown, dark gray, or olive-brown, with some vinaceous to red stains", (Castellano), rather crowded; deep blue to grayish blue when young, later (dark) grayish brown, (Brandrud), adnate; "violet, keeping their color for a long time", (Phillips), [presumably becoming rusty brown]

Stem:
7-15cm long, up to 2.3cm wide at top, up to 4.4cm wide at base, bulbous to club-shaped, rounded to tapered in lower part, (Castellano), 5-10cm x 1-2.5cm, distinctly bulbous at base (to 5cm); rather persistently blue to grayish blue, turning vinaceous red on bruising, basal mycelium bluish, (Brandrud), 9-15cm x 2-3.5cm, with a very large bulb before the stem extends and the cap expands, the stem eventually becoming swollen; pallid purplish; fibrillose, (Phillips)

Veil:
universal veil "pale brown, forming a band on the bulb and sometimes brown patches over the inner veil, which are more pale", (Castellano), rather abundant, faintly viscid when young, rendering the stem grayish to olivaceous gray girdled (Brandrud)

Odor:
not distinct to somewhat sweet, (Castellano), indistinct or sweetish (Brandrud), distinctive (Phillips)

Taste:
mild or slightly bitter, (Castellano), somewhat bitter (Brandrud), slight or a touch bitter (Phillips)

Microscopic spores:
spores (8.5)8.9-11.3(11.8) x (4.8)5.4-7.0(7.4) microns, elliptic to more or less amygdaliform [almond-shaped] or broadly elliptic, distinctly verrucose, ornamentation dark brown; basidia 4-spored, (25)35-50 x 8-11(13) microns, clavate to broadly clavate or somewhat ventricose, colorless to yellow-brown; clamp connections present, (Castellano), spores 8.5-10.5(11) x 5.5-6.5 microns, elliptic to amygdaliform [almond-shaped], rather weakly verrucose, warts isolated and dense, (Brandrud), 8.8-11.5 x 5-6.5 microns, lemon-shaped, warty (Phillips), no pleurocystidia, marginal cells 28-50 x 5-10 microns, cylindric to clavate, (Breitenbach)

Spore deposit:
rusty brown (Phillips)

Notes:
Cortinarius cyanites has been found at least in WA and CA (Castellano). Phillips says it has been found in the Pacific Northwest and VA and probably in other eastern states. A collection from BC is deposited at the University of British Columbia. It has also been found in Europe including Switzerland (Breitenbach(5)), Sweden (Brandrud(1)), and Germany (Garnica(1)).

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