Medicinal Mushrooms

The belted slimy cort, Cortinarius collinitus (Pers.) Fr., member of a species complex. These specimens are from the Los Trancos Preserve, Palo Alto, California, USA.
  Photo credit: Douglas Smith
  Source: Mushroom Observer (CC-by-nc-sa-2.5)

Classification

Kingdom Fungi
Phylum Basidiomycota
Class Basidiomycetes
Order Agaricales
Family Cortinariaceae
Genus Cortinarius

Agaricus collinitus Pers.
Cortinarius cylindripes Kauffman (Bendiksen et al., 1992)
Cortinarius muscigenus Peck
  Ann. Rep. N.Y. state Mus. 41: 71 (1888)

Belted slimy cort
Smeared cort
Pavučinec plavooranžový (Czech)
Spættet Slørhat (Danish)
Kangaslimaseitikki (Finnish)
Cortinaire collinéen/lubrifié (French)
Blaustieliger Schleimfuss (German)
Pavalku tīmeklene (Latvian)
Violettfotad slemspindling (Swedish)

Cap: 2-10 cm diameter, intially campanulate, later convex then expanded with a low broad umbo, yellow-brown to golden or dark rust, often darker at centre, surface glutinous drying shiny, margin incurved at first, sometimes slightly grooved; margin often slightly paler than rest of cap.
Gills: adnate to adnexed, rather broad, bluish- or greyish-white (clay) when young, later rusty-brown.

A close-up of the gills and stem, powdered with brown spores.
  Photo credit: John Kirkpatrick
  Source: Mushroom Observer (CC-by-sa-3.0)
Stem: 5-12 cm long x 0.5-2 cm thick, cylindrical, solid, apex white to bluish, color usually paler then the cap; often covered in bluish bands of veil remains; viscid or glutinous when moist, when the gluten dries it cracks transversely, giving a scaly appearance; flesh whitish to yellowish, sometimes with blue tinges in stem apex.
Spore print: rusty-brown.
Spores: ellipsoid, rough, 10-15 x 6-8.5 µm.
Habitat: found on ground, solitary, scattered or gregarious in coniferous or mixed woods; late summer.
Taste and odor: not distinguishable.
Edibility: unknown; avoid eating as the Cortinarius genera is difficult to accurately identify and many species have toxins.

Description adapted from Arora (1986), p. 431.

A portion of a chromolithograph by American mycologist Charles Horton Peck, illustrating various aspects of the habit of C. collinitus.
  Source: From plate 13 in the Annual Report of the State Botanist (Volume 2d ed.) by C.H. Peck, 1897 (Public Domain).

Medicinal properties
Antitumor effects

Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of C. cortinarius and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 80% and 90%, respectively (Ohtsuka et al., 1973).

Links

• Mushroom Observer and BioPix have more photos
• Roger's Mushrooms has photos and description
• C. collinitus is mentioned in this US patent on dietary supplements to improve immune function, treat malignancies and virus infection

References

Ammirti JF, Ovrebo CL.
Type studies of some Cortinarius and Tricholoma species described by Charles Horton Peck.
Mycotaxon. 1979 8(2):353-71.

Arora, D. (1986).
Mushrooms demystified.
Berkeley: Ten speed press. 959 pp.

Bendiksen E, Bendiksen K, Brandrud TE.
What is Cortinarius cylindripes Kauffman?
Persoonia. 1992 14(4):583-5.

Kuhner R.
Descriptive notes on the agarics of France. I. Cortinarius.
[Notes descriptives sur les agarics de France I. Cortinarius]
Bull Mensuel Soc Linn Lyon. 1959 28(4/5):121-7 and 131-141.

Ohtsuka S, Ueno S, Yoshikumi C, Hirose F, Ohmura Y, Wada T, Fujii T, Takahashi E.
Polysaccharides having an anticarcinogenic effect and a method of producing them from species of Basidiomycetes.
UK Patent 1331513, 26 September 1973.

 

Last modified: 05-Nov-2008

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Anti-tumor, Medicinal Effects, Medicinal Mushrooms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.