A membranous or cobweb-like protective covering on young fruiting bodies that ruptures as the fruiting body expands and remains as a ring on the stipe or as a fringe at the cap margin. The cobweb-like, filamentous velum of Cortinarius and related fungi is called a cortina. A distinction is made between the universal veil (velum universale), which covers the entire young fruiting body, and the partial veil (velum partiale), which protects the young gills.

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