Cortinarius calochrous is a common mushroom species growing in autumn in the green oak forests, common in Montserrat. When young it looks like a ball with convex cap and short stipe that enlarges at the bottom in an edged bulb as a bowl. At this age the grills are covered by threads as a thin curtain that originates the name of genus Cortinarius. As soon as it grows, the cap flattens and the stipe lengthens, though the hemispheric bulb remains. The cap is yellow, often darker, brownish or reddish in the centre. The grills are pale violet that turns rusty orange when aged. The stipe combines all these colours in vertical stripes on a white background, whilst the bulb below the edge is fully white with rests of hypha and soil.
Cortinarius calochrous achieves 6-7 diameter maximum. Similar species found in the green oak forest are C.caerulescens and C.elegantissimus.
[photo Jordi Badia]