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Laccaria amethystina [ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Hydnangiaceae > Laccaria . . . ] by Michael Kuo This little mushroom is easily recognized: it has thick purple gills, a white spore print, and a small cap that is initially purplish but soon fades to buff or brownish. It is found east of the Rocky Mountains. For a similar mushroom found west of the Rockies, see Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis. Laccaria amethystina may look like a little like a small Cortinarius in the subgenus Seriocybe, but those mushrooms have a cortina covering the young gills, and rusty brown spore prints (consequently, the gills in mature specimens are also rusty brown). Laccaria amethystina is listed in field guides as edible, but it is insubstantial, and definitely not a mushroom that novice mushroom hunters should collect for the table, since it bears a resemblance to poisonous Cortinarius species. A spore print is a must in this case! Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods (especially partial to oak and beech); growing alone or scattered; summer; widely disributed east of the Rocky Mountains. Cap: .5-3.5 cm; broadly convex to flat; often with a central depression; the margin even or inrolled, not lined or lined; nearly smooth or finely hairy-scaly; bright grayish purple, fading to buff; changing color markedly as it dries out (often resulting in "two-toned" specimens). Gills: Attached to the stem, or rarely running down the length of the stem; distant or nearly so; thick; waxy; dark purple or colored like the cap. Stem: 1-7 cm long; 1-7 mm thick; equal or slightly swollen at the base; coarsely hairy or scaly; colored like the cap; with lilac to whitish basal mycelium. Flesh: Insubstantial; colored like the cap or paler. Taste: Mild; odor mild. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 7-10 µ; round; ornamented with spines 1.5-3 µ long and over 1 µ wide at their bases. Basidia 4-spored, rarely 2-spored. Laccaria amethystea is a synonym. Though there is a debate among mycologists about which of the two names is correct, the species itself remains stable. The name Laccaria amethystina was previously applied, on the West Coast, to Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis, but that species has broadly elliptical, rather than round, spores. REFERENCES: (Bulliard ex Merat) Murrill, 1914. (Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Metzler & Metzler, 1992; Bessette, Miller, Bessette & Miller, 1995; Mueller, 1997; Barron, 1999.) Herb. Kuo 06129605, 08270207. Further Online Information: Laccaria amethystina at Mueller's Laccaria |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2002, August). Laccaria amethystina. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/laccaria_amethystina.html |