''Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis'' is a mushroom found under

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

, usually pine, growing alone, scattered or gregariously in western North America.Muller, 1984.

Description

The mushroom is entirely purple. The cap is in width. The gills are purple. The stem is up to long, fibrous, with a whitish

mycelium Mycelium (: mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Its normal form is that of branched, slender, entangled, anastomosing, hyaline threads. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are fo ...

near the base. The spores are 7.5–10.5 x 7–16

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

, subglobose or broadly elliptical. The

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

is white.

Similar species

This species is similar to '' L. amethystina'' but differs by occurring in

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

forest in eastern North America, rather than coniferous forest; having a smaller sporocarp; and being a lighter purple color. ''L. bicolor'' is smaller and less purplish; ''L. laccata'' has whitish

at its base. ''

Cortinarius violaceus ''Cortinarius violaceus'', common name, commonly known as the violet webcap or violet cort, is a fungus in the webcap genus, ''Cortinarius'', for which it serves as the type species. It was first species description, described by Carl Linnaeus ...

'' is darker and has a less fibrillose stipe. '' Pseudoomphalina cokeri'' is also similar.

Distribution and habitat

It can be found on the ground near the North American West Coast from October to February.

Uses

The mushroom is

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

References

External links