Why I don't expect an ID!
Graph 1) The blue pie represents all our local Sheffield area fungi records excluding Cortinarius. From over 63,000 records just over 400 are Cortinarius (= 0.6%) and Webcaps are by far the biggest genus of toadstools in the UK and the world. (Data from Sorby Fungus Group to 2012, including FRDBI records for SW Yorks and Derbyshire to 2009). The Webcaps are either truly uncommon or much disregarded.
Graph 2) The multicoloured pie chart represents the proportion of records for each species of Webcap in the Sheffield area records. Most have less than 4 records, a large number have just 1 or 2. That’s over 100 years worth of records!
Graph 3) The histogram chart represents the number of records for each species (blue) and the number of recorders for that species (red). C. anomalus has 31 records and at least 15 recorders (it's a variable species so hardly a dead cert to put a name to). About 70 recorders are "anon" so there may be more individual recorders than shown. By and large most species are only ever reported once or a couple of times by a recorder.
The map shows the distribution of Webcaps in the Sheffield area (excluding Nottinghamshire and westernmost parts of the Peak District). I’ve found most of those within the city of Sheffield.
A big problem in identifying species is getting yout specimen to match a picture - most of the ones I find just don't fit. The coverage in many reference works isn't very comprehensive. Funga Nordica has an 118 page key (no pictures!) but Phillips and the Collins Guides give less than half the 420 or so species on the FRDBI list.
Roger Phillips: approx 115 illustrated
Collins: Courtecuisse and Duhem state that there 500-2,500 species (Britain and Europe) depending on the authority! – approx 115 illustrated
Collins, Sterry and Hughes: approx 70 illustrated
Collins, Buczacki: approx 125 illustrated
My slightly dated version of Mycokey has the following comment:
"Over 500 species in Northern Europe, 36 in Mycokey. The Mycokey species coverage is disastrous."
The general consensus seems to be that Cortinarius is the biggest genus of mushrooms in the UK, Europe and the world, very heterogeneous, with few strikingly characteristic features to unify the genus, and is the most difficult to identify to species. Also, that to identify species reliably you need to be a specialist using microscopy. In addition, Cortinarius is normally not possible to ID from a single toadstool – you need a whole range of specimens from young to mature. As well as all this, the taxonomy is in a state of flux.
A comment from the much-missed Wild About Britain website:
" “…Kew probably wouldn't be too happy if you start sending lots of Cortinarius in for identification … since they are far from worked out properly (taxonomically) and it takes a hell of a long time to try and key them out, only to give up in the end and send the reply back as 'Cortinarius sp.' [with maybe a comment about the sub-group to which it belongs] which the sender already knew it was in the first place !”
The map was produced from Ordnance Survey data using freeware provided by Adrian Middleton, downloadable from <a href="
http://datmapr.jimdo.com/downloads/" rel="nofollow">datmapr.jimdo.com/downloads/</a>
The base map was provided by Museums Sheffield <a href="
http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">
www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/</a>
Steve