Stocking Webcap

Appearance

Cap: 3-8 cm; convex or irregular at first, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or nearly flat; dry; very finely silky or, in age, nearly bald; quite variable in color but generally lilac brown when young, fading markedly as it dries out to grayish lilac (often reminiscent of Lactarius argillaceifolius) or silvery--and eventually to a wishy-washy tan; the margin inrolled well into maturity.

Gills: Attached to the stem; nearly distant; brownish purple when young, becoming rusty brown; covered by a whitish cortina when young.

Stem: 4-10 cm long; up to 1.5 cm thick at the apex; tapering to a club-shaped, swollen base; dry; pale purple above when fresh and young but later silvery to whitish or faintly brownish; sheathed or "booted" from the base with whitish to lilac gray veil material that often terminates in a folded-over, fragile ring.

Flesh: Whitish, or with purple to gray shades in the stem.

Odor: Strong and sickly sweet.

Distribution

Eastern North America

Habitat

Mycorrhizal with hardwoods, including beech and both red and white oaks; growing scattered to gregariously; spring, summer, and fall.