The Orellani are a group of seven related species in the genus ''

Cortinarius ''Cortinarius'' is a globally distributed genus of mushrooms in the family Cortinariaceae. It is suspected to be the largest genus of agarics, containing over 2,000 widespread species. A common feature among all species in the genus ''Cortinariu ...

'' that have been classified as a section of the subgenus ''Leprocybe'' or a subgenus in their own right. They are among world's most

poisonous mushrooms Mushroom poisoning is poisoning resulting from the ingestion of mushroom, mushrooms that contain toxicity, toxic substances. Its Signs and symptoms, symptoms can vary from slight Gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal discomfort to death in abou ...

as they contain the highly toxic compound

orellanine Orellanine or orellanin is a mycotoxin found in a group of mushrooms known as the Orellani of the family Cortinariaceae. Structurally, it is a bipyridine N-oxide compound somewhat related to the herbicide diquat. History Orellanine first came t ...

. The best-known species are the deadly webcap (''

Cortinarius rubellus ''Cortinarius rubellus'', commonly known as the deadly webcap, is a species of fungus in the family Cortinariaceae, native to high-latitude temperate to subalpine forests of Eurasia and North America. Within the genus it belongs to a group known ...

'', formerly also known as ''C. speciosissimus'' or ''C. orellanoides'') and the fool's webcap, '' C. orellanus''. The mushrooms' characteristics are quite common, making them difficult to identify, which often leads to

fatal Fatal may refer to: * ''Fatal'' (album), by Hussein Fatal, 2002 * ''Fatal'' (film), a 2010 French film starring Michaël Youn and Stéphane Rousseau * '' F.A.T.A.L.'', a tabletop role-playing game released in 2003 * Fatal Recordings, a record la ...

poisonings. Young examples of the species often have a veil between the cap of the mushroom and the stem. This veil looks like a cobweb, hence the name. The veil however partially or completely disappears in older specimens. Some other characteristics for each of the mushrooms are given below.

Descriptions

Deadly webcap ''(Cortinarius rubellus)''

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

color'': Rusty brown to orange
''Cap'': 3–7 cm rusty brown to orange. Often has a steeper and darker colored elevation at the top of the cap, but this varies greatly from specimen to specimen
''

Gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

'': Wide gaps between the gills which can be, but are not necessarily, connected to the stem
''Location'': Rare, but common in temperate parts of northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Has been encountered as far north as Finnish Lapland.
''

Habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

'':

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

woods with

acidic In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

soil
''Other details'': Young specimens contain a pale web between the cap and the stem. Sometimes parts of this web can be seen as a yellow ring on the stem or at the edge of the cap. The fruiting body of the mushroom blossoms from mid-summer to late autumn. ''Cortinarius rainierensis'', described in 1950 by Alex H. Smith and

Daniel Elliot Stuntz Daniel Elliot Stuntz (March 15, 1909 - March 5, 1983) was often called "Bud" by his family and colleagues. When Stuntz was young, his immediate and extended family moved from Ohio to Seattle. He had a sister named Alice Stuntz Marionneaux, whom he ...

from material collected

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...

, is a synonym.

Fool's webcap ''(Cortinarius orellanus)''

''Spore color'': Rusty brown to orange
''Cap'': 3–8.5 cm, concave
''Gills'': Similar to those of the deadly webcap
''Location'': Common throughout Europe, rare in the northern parts of Europe. Has been observed as far north as southern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

''Habitat'': In forests, around trees where the soil is

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

or acidic
''Other details'': Young specimens of the fool's webcap also contain a web between the cap and the stem that partially or completely disappears as the specimen ages.

Toxicity

The deadly webcap and the fool's webcap both contain the toxin orellanin and orellin, orellinin and Cortinarin A, B, C. A characteristic of orellanin poisoning is the long latency; the first symptoms usually don't appear until 2–3 days after ingestion and can in some cases take as long as 3 weeks. The first symptoms of orellanin poisoning are similar to the common

flu Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

(

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

, vomiting, stomach pains,

headaches Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result of m ...

, etc.). These symptoms are followed by early stages of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

(immense thirst, frequent urination, pain on and around the

kidneys The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

), and eventually decreased or nonexistent urine output and other symptoms of kidney failure occur. If left untreated, death will follow. There is no known

antidote An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon) antidoton'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are s ...

against orellanin poisoning, but early hospitalization and treatment can sometimes prevent serious injuries and usually prevent death. If you suspect orellanin poisoning, seek emergency medical attention. Both of these mushrooms can be confused with each other and many incidents of

mushroom poisoning Mushroom poisoning is poisoning resulting from the ingestion of mushrooms that contain toxic substances. Its symptoms can vary from slight gastrointestinal discomfort to death in about 10 days. Mushroom toxins are secondary metabolites produced by ...

have occurred where inexperienced

mushroom hunters Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for culinary use. This practice is popular throughout most of Europe, Australia, Japan, ...

have confused these mushrooms with

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi (fungi which bear fruiting structures that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye). They can appear either below ground (hypogeous) or above ground ...

s, such as the

chanterelle Chanterelle is the common name of several species of fungi in the genera '' Cantharellus'', '' Craterellus'', '' Gomphus'', and ''Polyozellus''. They are among the most popular of wild edible mushrooms. They are orange, yellow or white, meaty a ...

, or hallucinogenic mushrooms. Extreme care should be taken when picking mushrooms like the cleaned funnel chanterelles as these mushrooms share the same habitat as the deadly webcap and the fool's webcap. In Poland during the 1950s there was a small epidemic where over 100 people became ill. What caused the illness remained a mystery until 1952 when Polish physician Stanisław Grzymala discovered that everyone suffering from the illness, which by then had claimed several lives, had eaten the mushroom ''

Cortinarius orellanus ''Cortinarius orellanus'', commonly known as the fool's webcap or fools webcap, is a species of deadly fungus in the family Cortinariaceae native to Europe. Within the genus it belongs to a group known as the Orellani, all of which are highly ...

''. The of orellanin in mice is 12–20 mg per kg body weight. From cases of orellanine-related mushroom poisoning in humans it seems that the lethal dose for humans is considerably lower. Several more mushrooms in the genus ''Cortinarius'' are suspected to contain orellanin or other deadly toxins. Among them are '' Cortinarius callisteus'' and '' Cortinarius limonius''.

Notable poisonings

Nicholas Evans Nicholas Benbow Evans (26 July 1950 – 9 August 2022) was a British journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist. Biography Nicholas Benbow Evans was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, son of Anthony Evans, director of ...

, author of ''The Horse Whisperer'', his wife

Charlotte Gordon Cumming Charlotte Gordon Cumming (born 2 February 1958) is a British contemporary singer-songwriter and music producer. She wrote the Sugababes hit "Soul Sound", nominated for MTV Best European Single Award 2001. In 2005, the song was covered by Indones ...

, and two other relatives were accidentally poisoned in September 2008 after consuming ''Cortinarius rubellus'' and/or ''Cortinarius speciosissimus'' that they gathered on holiday. Although the poisoning was non-lethal, Evans and the others suffered severe renal damage and had to undergo

kidney dialysis Kidney dialysis (from Greek , , 'dissolution'; from , , 'through', and , , 'loosening or splitting') is the process of removing excess water, solutes, and toxins from the blood in people whose kidneys can no longer perform these functions natura ...

. All four victims were informed that they would require

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

s in the future. Several years later, Evans received a kidney donated by his daughter, Lauren.

References

External links

The presence of orellanine in spores and basidiocarp from ''Cortinarius orellanus'' and ''Cortinarius rubellus''Videos of ''Cortinarius orellanus'' on YouTube
{{Commons, Cortinarius orellanus Poisonous fungi Deadly fungi Cortinarius