Pileus 15–50 mm diam., obtusely rounded, later convex-conical, dry, finely to rather coarsely innate fibrillose, hygrophanous, brownish-yellow with an olive-brown to olive-black disk, sometimes with an orange tinge; margin contrastingly brighter, olive-yellow, striate with darker, yellow-brown fibrils. Lamellae adnate, distant (L=28, l=2), olive-yellow to pale cinnamon when young, edge concolorous. Stipe 35–80 x 3–9 mm, tall, slender, cylindrical, often somewhat expanded at base; pale yellow to citrinous from an absorbing sheen, with sparse, thin, brownish to orange fibrils and bands. Veil yellow-brown, turning orange-red, sparse. Context olive-brown in pileus, contrastingly yellow-brown to olive yellow in stipe. Macrochemical reactions: NaOH warmly dark brown to red-brown on pileal surface, weakly purple-brown in context; formalin, guayac, phenol in context nil. Odour and taste raphanoid.Spores 5.5–6.2–7(–7.3) x 4.6-5.2–5.5(–5.7) µm, Q=1.19±0.10 (n=26), subglobose, moderately verrucose. Marginal elements fairly crowded, clavate to vesiculose, 12–20 x 6–7 µm. Basidia 20–25 x 5–7 µm, 4-spored. Epicutis thick with parallel hyaline hyphae 7–11 µm diam., lower strata with a (pale) red-brown, vacuolar pigment. Hypocutis with irregular, angular, hyphal elements, up to 40 x 20 µm. Clamp connections present.

Pileo 15-50 mm diam., primo obtuso-globoso, deinde convexo-conico, sicco, hygrophano, helvello, ad discum olivaceobadio, interdum aurantio-lavato, minute vel impolite innato-fibrilloso, margine pallidior, olivaceolutea, striata. Lamellis primo ex olivaceoluteis pallide cinnamomeis, distantibus. Stipite aequali, procero, ad basem interdum incrassato, pallide citrino-luteo, minute fulvo-fibrilloso. Velo helvello, aurantio-rubescens, sparso. Carne pilei olivaceobadia, stipite pugnante olivaceo-fulva; odore saporeque raphanoideis. Sporis subglobosis 5.5–7 x 4.5–5.5 µm, moderate verrucosis. Reactionem ope NaOH badio rufam. Holotypus hic designatus PDD 88271: Nova Zelandia, Southland, Milford Road, Mackay Creek, in silvis cum Nothofagete, 29 th April 2006, K. Soop.

Etymology: From Greek ελαιον, olive, and -οπς, eye, due to the concentric colour pattern on the pileus. Comments: This rather common fungus is easily recognised from its round, mustard-yellow pileus with a darker centre, reminiscent of an eye. The colour usually presents a distinct olive component. Despite its telamonioid habit the alkaline reaction of Cortinarius elaiops suggests an affinity to subgenus Dermocybe. The rather similar C. indotatus E. Horak yields a stronger red alkaline reaction and produces differently shaped spores. C. paraxanthus Soop is also similar to this species, but it has a darker and more uniformly coloured pileus, no alkaline reaction, and significantly larger spores.