Life on the Outer Coast

Did another test of the Cortinarius phoeniceus var. occidentalis. I should use Dermocybe for this species instead of Cortinarius as it was described as such in 1989. I finally found a good reference to the section that includes the red gilled species.

Ammirati, J.F. (1989). Dermocybe, subgenus Dermocybe, section Sanguineae in northern California. Mycotaxon 34 (1): 21-36 that was available at the CyberLiber http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/

One of the issues I needed settled was the difference between D. semisanguinaria and D. phoenicea var. occidentalis. Cap color seems like it might be a somewhat variable characteristic to hang a species on, but that does seem to be the main characteristic I could find in the descriptions in the article.

The distribution of the two species overlaps, but D. semisanguinarius is more common on the east coast and phoenicea on the west coast.

"Dermocybe phoenicea var occidentalis is the most frequently encountered member of section Sanguineae on the Pacific Coast, extending from Californis into Alaska. It also occurs in the mountains of the interior where it can be found in some years as early as August. It prefers coniferous woods, but also occurs in mixed forests of conifers and deciduous trees. "

Recollected both species of Cortinarius or Dermocybe from the SJ spruce tree, this time keeping them in seperate paper bags. Sorting the dried fruiting bodies was kind of problematic last time and I was curious if the species had been mixed in the dye baths. Basically could I achieve the same colors twice?
Mordanted some roving and loose wool in Alum with a bit of cream of tartar the day before the dye bath. Used 23 brown Cortinarius (best fit is cinnamomeus) and 16 Dermocybe in quart jars about 2/3 full of water. The jars went in a water bath in the double pot designed for pasta. I was hoping that the extra layer would keep the jars from breaking. Also used the dye bath saved from the last round of dyes.

The mushrooms simmered in the dye bath for about 25 minutes before I added the wool. The exhaust dye jar went in the pot about 5 minutes before the wool was added. I let the dye bath go for another hour, then let the wool cool in the dye overnight.

The D. phoenicea wool was a pretty nice rose sort of red, a bit darker than the color of the silk scarf. The exhaust dye (left) was a tangerine color (similar to the color last time) and the Cortinarius cinnamomus was a lighter, duller orange. The pink wool above the red wool in the center is unmordanted wool put in the Dermocybe dyes.