An attempt was made to isolate the mycelium of Cortinarius orellanus and to look for orellanine in it, the structure of this molecule being 3,3′,4,4′-tetrahydroxy-2,2′-bipyridyl-1,1′-dioxide. A mycelial isolate of C. orellanus was obtained for the first time from an agar medium similar in composition to Pachlewski and Oddoux media. The identity of the cultures was confirmed by the chemical characterization of orellanine by tlc on cellulose and photodecomposition under uv light. The orellanine content from the cultured mycelium was weaker than those from the carpophore. This result was compared with those obtained by other authors for the genus Amanita and Gyromitra.