Lepiota cortinarius Lange Cap 3-10cm across, convex becoming nearly flat with an irregularly raised margin; white background with a brown disc; covered in small, tawny, hairy scales arranged concentrically. Gills free, crowded, subdistant; white sometimes staining yellowish. Stem 30-90 X 7-20mm, enlarged into a small, flat bulb at the base; same color as cap; smooth at the top; hairy-scaly below, similar to cap. Veil cortinate, forms a weblike, evanescent ring. Flesh thick, firm; white. Spores oblong-ovoid, truncate at base, 7.5-10 X 3-4µ. Deposit white. Habitat on needle carpets under conifers or in mixed woods and cedar swamps. Quite common. Found in Europe and eastern North America west to the Great Lakes and rarely in the Pacific Northwest. Season September-October. Not edible- probably poisonous. The lefthand photograph was taken by Geoffrey Kibby.