Purple webcap (Cortinarius violaceus)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Cortinariaceae (Spiderwebs)
- Genus: Cortinarius (Webcap)
- Species: Cortinarius violaceus (Purple webcap)
Synonyms:
- Agaricus violaceus L. 1753basionym
- Gomphos violaceus (L.) Kuntze 1898
Purple webcap (Cortinarius violaceus) is an edible mushroom from the genus Cobweb of the webcap family (Cortinariaceae).
Description
The cap is up to 15 cm in ∅, pillow-convex , with a curled inward or lowered edge, at maturity flat, dark purple, fine-scaly.
The plates are adherent with a tooth, wide, sparse, dark purple in color.
The flesh is thick, soft, bluish, fading to white, with a nutty flavor, without much odor.
Leg 6-12 cm high and 1-2 cm thick, covered with small scales in the upper part, with tuberous thickening at the base, fibrous, brownish or dark purple.
Rusty brown spore powder . Spores 11-16 × 7-9 µm, almond-shaped, coarsely warty, rusty-buffy.
The plates are rare.
Edibility
Little known edible mushroom.
Listed in the Red Book.
Can be eaten fresh, salted and pickled.
But it's better not to collect them.
Spread
Occurs in deciduous and coniferous forests, especially in pine forests, in August-September.
The purple webcap is found in coniferous and deciduous forests.
In Europe, it grows in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia and Ukraine. Also found in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Japan and the United States. On the territory of Russia, it is found in the Murmansk, Leningrad, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Moscow regions, in the Republic of Mari El, in the Krasnoyarsk and Primorsky Territories.