Medium to large agaric, growing on the ground, with a rusty to ochre-brown, cinnamon-brown or rarely dark brown spore print. Pileus orange, brown, purple, blue or rarely grey, viscid, glutinous or rarely dry, often with patches of universal veil remnants on surface or appendiculate around margin. Lamellae adnexed, sinuate or notched or subdecurrent. Stipe central, dry. Partial veil remnants a well-developed membranous annulus. Flesh often with purple tint. Spores yellow-brown, warty; plage absent; germ pore absent. Cheilocystidia usually present, cylindrical, clavate or vesiculose. Lamellar trama regular. Pileipellis a cutis or trichoderm. Clamp connections present.

The species formerly placed in Rozites are distinguished from most other Cortinarius by the well-developed membranous annulus. Such an annulus is present in Cortinarius australiensis, but this has a dry, white pileus and a massive stipe. An annulus is rarely present in Cortinarius subgenus Myxacium (such as in C. archeri), but this has a glutinous stipe. Descolea has a well-developed annulus, but it never has purple tints, and the pileipellis is a hymeniderm or epithelium. Some species of Agrocybe have an annulus, but they often grow on wood, the pileipellis is a hymeniderm and spores are smooth. Among other annulate brown-spored taxa, Cortinarius canarius is bright yellow, and Gymnopilus species mostly grow on wood and have well-differentiated cheilocystidia (often capitate).

Nine species are included in this group, most of which were formerly placed in the genus Rozites, which was distinguished from Cortinarius by the presence of a membranous annulus. However, DNA analysis (Peintner et al., 2004) shows that Rozites is not distinct from Cortinarius, and that is does not form a separate group within Cortinarius, hence the use of the term 'morphogroup' Rozites.

Australian species are : Cortinarius armeniacovelatus (= Rozites), C. elacatipus (= R. fusipes), C. metallicus (= Rozites, pileus bluish grey), C. obtectus (= R. occulta), C. perfoetens (= R. foetens), C. roseolilacinus (= Rozites, pileus pink mauve-lilac), C. submeleagris and C. symeae (= Rozites). Also keyed out in this group is Cortinarius vinaceolamellatus which was placed in Cortinarius subgenus Sericeocybe by Bougher & Syme (1998). However, it has a well-developed membranous annulus, and therefore is grouped alongside the seven former members of Rozites for identification purposes. Cortinarius australiensis, also formerly placed in Rozites, is keyed out separately, due to the massive size of the fruit-body.

W.A., Vic. and Tas.

In native forests. Some species are found only in cool-temperate rainforest with Nothofagus.

On the ground.

Ectomycorrhizal.

Bougher, N.L. (2009a), Fungi of the Perth region and beyond: a self-managed field book, Western Australian Naturalists' Club (Inc.), Perth. [Description and Illustration of C. vinaceolamellatus]

Bougher, N.L. & Hilton, R.N. (1989), Three Cortinarius species from Western Australia, Mycol. Res. 93: 424–428. [Description, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters of C. vinaceolamellatus]

Bougher, N.L. & Syme, K. (1998), Fungi of Southern Australia. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands. [Description, Illustration and Microcharacters of C. symeae (as Rozites) and C. vinaceolamellatus]

Bougher, N.L., Fuhrer, B.A. & Horak, E. (1994), Taxonomy and biogeography of Australian Rozites species mycorrhizal with Nothofagus and Myrtaceae, Austral. Syst. Bot. 7: 353–375. [Description, B&W Illustration, Microcharacters and Key to seven Australian species, all as Rozites]

Fuhrer, B. (2005), A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Bloomings Books, Hawthorn. [Description and Illustration for C. metallicus, C. perfotetens and C. roseolilacinus, all under Rozites]

Fuhrer, B. & Robinson, R. (1992), Rainforest Fungi of Tasmania and South-east Australia. CSIRO Press, East Melbourne. [Illustration of C. perfoetens (as Rozites sp.)]

Gasparini, B. (2007b), Genus Cortinarius, subgenus Phlegmacium in Tasmania, New Zealand J. Bot. 45: 155–236 [Description, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters of C. submeleagris]

Grey, P. & Grey, E. (2005), Fungi Down Under. Fungimap, South Yarra. [Description, Illustration and Map for C. metallicus, C. roseolilacinus and C. symeae]

Grgurinovic, C.A. (1997a), Larger Fungi of South Australia. The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium and The Flora and Fauna of South Australia Handbooks Committee, Adelaide. [Description and Microcharacters of C. vinaceolamellatus]

Horak, E. (1981a), Notes on taxonomy and biogeography of Rozites Karsten, Sydowia 34: 94–108.

Horak, E. & Taylor, M. (1980), Fungi agaricini Novaezelandiae XI. Rozites Karsten, New Zealand J. Bot. 19: 353–360. [Key, Description, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters of five New Zealand species, including C. elacatipus (as R. fusipes)]

McCann, I.R. (2003), Australian Fungi Illustrated. Macdown Productions, Vermont. [Illustration of C. roseolilacinus (as Rozites)]

Peintner, U., Horak, E., Moser, M.M. & Vilgalys, R. (2002), Phylogeny of Rozites, Cuphocybe and Rapacea inferred from ITS and LSU rDNA sequences, Mycologia 94: 620–629.

Peintner, U., Moncalvo, J.-M. & Vilgalys, R. (2004), Toward a better understanding of the infrageneric relationships in Cortinarius (Agaricales, Basidiomycota), Mycologia 96: 1042–1058.