Slippery jack or Orange webcap

Cap 4–12 cm across, convex in young mushrooms, later flattened-convex. The surface is covered with a thick layer of slime — especially in wet weather. Color chocolate-brown or chestnut, yellowish brown when dry. The margin often bears remnants of the partial veil.

The cap is 5-10 cm across, hemispherical with an inrolled margin in young mushrooms, becoming convex to flat over time. The color is chestnut-brown, honey-brown, darker in the center, paler at the margin. The surface is very slimy in wet weather — a hallmark of the species. The cap skin peels off easily, as in a slippery jack. In dry weather the cap is simply shiny, without noticeable slime.

The hymenophore has tubes. Pores yellow, small, regular, turning yellow-green with age. The tubes are attached to the stem or run slightly down it. When pressed, the pores turn slightly brownish.

The hymenophore is gilled — the gills are attached to the stem and moderately crowded. In young mushrooms they are pale cream to pale ochre, later turning rusty brown as the spores ripen. The spore print is rusty brown — a diagnostic feature of the genus Cortinarius. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a cobwebby partial veil (the cortina).

Stem 5–10 cm tall, 1–2 cm thick, solid, cylindrical. Yellow and granular in the upper part, brown or violet-brownish below the ring. A characteristic purple-brown membranous ring — a remnant of the partial veil and one of the key diagnostic features of the species.

The stem is 6-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, long, often tapering toward the base. The color is whitish to cream, with reddish tints toward the base. The surface is smooth, slimy in the upper part, with fine lengthwise fibers. On the stem, remnants of the cobwebby cortina form a thin band dusted with rusty-brown spores.

Flesh yellowish or pale cream, firm in young mushrooms, softer in mature ones. Turns slightly pink when cut or stays unchanged. The taste is mild, pleasant, slightly sourish. The cap skin peels off easily together with the slime.

The flesh is firm, white to cream. When cut it does not change color. The smell is faint and neutral, with no distinctive notes.

Smell pleasant, unobtrusively mushroomy, slightly resinous — reflecting its symbiosis with pine. With cooking the aroma intensifies and becomes more pronounced. No foreign unpleasant notes.

Faint, neutral, mushroomy, with no pronounced notes.