Emily Johnson
Purple mushrooms are a delightful sight when strolling through the forest, though they are not particularly common. The amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) is a gilled, cap-and-stipe mushroom that produces enchanting amethyst purple fruiting bodies. Another variety is the indigo milk cap, which is edible and typically found in deciduous and coniferous forests of southern and eastern North America. The Cortinarius violaceus, also known as the violet webcap, is a type of purple mushroom with a velvety-scaly cap and violet gills. This mushroom is sometimes considered edible, but it resembles some toxic species, so it is not recommended for consumption.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Common name | Violet Webcap |
| Scientific name | Cortinarius violaceus |
| Cap | Dark purple, up to 15 cm (6 inches) across |
| Gills | Dark violet, turning purplish-brown with age |
| Stipe | Purple, covered in wool-like fibrils, up to 6-12 cm (2+1⁄3 to 4+2⁄3 inches) long and 1-2 cm (3⁄8 to 3⁄4 inches) thick |
| Flesh | Violet, with a mild taste and a slight, pleasant smell reminiscent of cedar wood |
| Spore print colour | Rust-coloured |
| Spores | Ellipsoidal, 12 to 15 μm by 7 to 8.5 μm, rough, elliptical to almond-shaped, covered in medium-sized warts |
| Cystidia | Present on both faces and edges of gills, flask-shaped, measuring 60-100 μm by 12-25 μm |
| Habitat | Temperate forests of North America, Europe, and Asia; also found in subarctic regions of western Greenland and in Britain and Ireland |
| Edibility | Variously described as edible, inedible, or toxic; similar in appearance to some poisonous mushrooms |
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What You'll Learn
Violet Webcap (Cortinarius violaceus)
The violet webcap is entirely violet, purple or blue, sometimes so dark that it appears black. The cap of the mushroom can be up to 12 cm in diameter. The stalk measures 6 to 12 cm by 1 to 2 cm, sometimes with a thicker base. The flesh is violet, but darker below the pileipellis and in the stipe. The gills are dark violet, changing to a purplish-brown with age. The mushroom stains red when in contact with potassium hydroxide (KOH). The spore print is rust-coloured.
Violet Webcap is found in temperate forests across North America, Europe, and Asia. In the British Isles, this species is endangered. It is also occasionally found in the subarctic regions of western Greenland. In North America, it is found predominantly in conifer forests, while in Europe, it is found in deciduous forests. It grows in limestone and chalk-rich woodland habitats, mainly under beeches and other broadleaf trees, but also occasionally with conifers.
The edibility of Violet Webcap is debated. Some sources claim that it is edible but not a preferred choice, while others state that it is inedible. Its similarity to some other inedible or toxic webcaps makes it risky to consume.
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Amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina)
The Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) is a pretty-in-purple mushroom that grows in broadleaved and coniferous woodlands during late summer and autumn. It is widespread and common in Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe, Asia, and North America. It was first described in 1778 by the English botanist William Hudson, who named it Agaricus amethystinus.
The Amethyst Deceiver is a small toadstool with a bright purple colour. The cap is up to 6 centimetres (2+1⁄4 in) in diameter, initially convex, and later flattens, typically with a central depression (navel). When moist, it is a deep purplish lilac, which fades upon drying out. The stem is the same colour as the cap and has whitish fibrils at the base, which become mealy at the top. The fibrous stems are tough and inedible, so only the caps are worth collecting if you are foraging. The Amethyst Deceiver is often found alongside Laccaria laccata, the Deceiver, as they favour similar habitats.
The Amethyst Deceiver is technically edible, but it is similar in appearance to the poisonous Lilac Fibrecap, so it is important to be able to identify it positively before consuming it. The common name "deceiver" refers to the difficulty in identifying mature or weathered specimens that have lost their vibrant amethyst coloration. As the Amethyst Deceiver gets older, its cap and stem become much paler and can even turn white.
The Amethyst Deceiver has had many binomials over the years, with reference to the amethyst coloration featured in most of them. It was once placed in the genus Collybia, as Collybia amethystina, which was probably due to its tough collybioid-like stem. Its present binomial places it in Laccaria, with the specific epithet amethystina, a pairing first used by Cooke in 1884. In 1922, it was named as a variety of L. laccata, var. amethystina (Cooke) Rea, which is now a synonym. Other synonyms include Agaricus amethysteus, Laccaria amethystea, Omphalia amethystea, Agaricus amethystinus Huds., Agaricus lividopurpureus With., and Laccaria laccata var. amethystina (Cooke) Rea.
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Indigo milk cap
The indigo milk cap has a sticky or slimy cap when young, which dries out as the mushroom ages. The interior of the stem is initially solid and firm but becomes hollow over time. The mushroom has no distinguishable odour. The species is native to North America and is found in habitats ranging from muddy ditches to conifer forests.
While L. indigo is edible, opinions vary on its desirability as a culinary ingredient. Some consider it a "superior edible", while others rate it as "mediocre in quality". It may have a slightly bitter or peppery taste and a coarse, grainy texture. The blue colour disappears when cooked, with the mushroom turning grayish. The firm flesh is best prepared by slicing the mushroom thinly.
L. indigo var. diminutivus, or the "smaller indigo milk cap", is a smaller variant of the mushroom with a cap diameter of 0.3-1 cm. It is often found in Virginia and Texas, typically along the sides of muddy ditches under grasses and weeds, with loblolly pine nearby.
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Sky blue mushroom
The Entoloma hochstetteri, commonly known as the sky-blue mushroom, is a species of mushroom native to New Zealand. It is known for its distinctive all-blue colour, with gills that have a slight reddish tint due to the spores. The blue colour of the fruit body is caused by azulene pigments. The Māori name for the mushroom is werewere-kōkako, as its colour is similar to the blue wattle of the kōkako bird.
The sky-blue mushroom is small and delicate, with a conical-shaped cap that can be up to 4 cm (1.4 inches) in diameter. The cap colour is indigo-blue with a green tint and a rolled-in margin. The gills are thin, ranging from 3 to 5 mm wide, and are typically the same colour as the cap, sometimes with a yellow tint. The cylindrical stipe (stalk) can be up to 5 cm (2 inches) long and 0.5 cm thick. The spore print of the sky-blue mushroom is reddish-pink.
The sky-blue mushroom is found in forests throughout New Zealand, growing on the soil among litter in broadleaf or podocarp forests. It typically fruits from January to July, with the best time to spot them being between April and June. While the sky-blue mushroom is not known to be toxic, its edibility status is unknown.
The sky-blue mushroom plays a significant role in New Zealand's cultural landscape. It was featured on a set of fungal stamps issued in New Zealand in 2002 and is also depicted on the New Zealand fifty-dollar note, making it the only banknote in the world to feature a mushroom. In a 2018 poll conducted by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, the sky-blue mushroom was ranked as the top choice for New Zealand's national fungus.
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Violet Cortinarius
The mushroom's cap is convex, becoming broadly convex, umbonate, or flat, with an incurved margin. It is dark violet to blue-black in colour and is covered in fine, downy scales. The layer on the cap is known as the pileipellis, which is either classified as a trichoderm or, rarely, an ixocutis. The cap surface, unlike that of many other Cortinarius species, is neither sticky nor slimy, though it is occasionally greasy. The cap can be up to 15 cm (6 in) across.
The gills are dark violet, changing to a purplish-brown with age. They have an adnate connection to the stipe and can be very dark in older specimens. The gills of immature specimens are covered by a purple, web-like partial veil, or cortina, which breaks as the cap expands. The gills become purplish-grey and eventually rusty brown as the spores mature. The spore print is rust-coloured. The stipe is a similar colour to the cap and is covered in wool-like fibrils; purple mycelium can be present at the base. Younger specimens feature a veil, but this vanishes quickly. The stipe can measure up to 12 cm (4+2⁄3 in) by 1 to 2 cm (3⁄4 in). The base of the stipe is typically swollen and can sometimes be as wide as 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in).
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Frequently asked questions
Some mushrooms that are purple include the violet webcap, the indigo milk cap, the amethyst deceiver, and the Cortinarius iodes.
Purple mushrooms can be found in forests across North America, Europe, Asia, and western Greenland. They are often found in limestone and chalk-rich woodland habitats, mainly under beeches and other broadleaf trees, but also occasionally with conifers.
The edibility of purple mushrooms varies. Some sources claim that the violet webcap (Cortinarius violaceus) is edible, while others state that it is inedible or even toxic. The indigo milk cap is edible, but its taste is said to be mild to acrid, so some people may not like it. The amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) is technically edible but may contain harmful levels of arsenic if grown in contaminated soil.
The purple colour in mushrooms is caused by an elusive pigment that was difficult to identify until 1998. This pigment is an iron(III) complex of (R)-3′,4′-dihydroxy-β-phenylalanine [(R)-β-dopa].
