Edible when cooked
Blewit
Lepista nuda
The blewit is paler lilac with a smooth cap, has no cobweb veil, and leaves a pale pinkish-buff spore print. It grows in leaf litter, compost and gardens as well as forests.
Violet Webcap
Cortinarius violaceus
Lookalike
Also called violet cort, violet cortinarius.
The violet webcap is a dark purple mushroom of old, mossy forests, one of the few Cortinarius species that is easy to name on sight. It gets mistaken for a blewit, and it belongs to a genus that includes deadly species.
The tell
Dark violet all over, with a finely scaly cap, a cobweb veil when young and a rusty brown spore print.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Convex, flattening with age, 2 to 5 inches across. Deep violet to blackish purple, dry, and covered in fine, upright scales or fibers that give it a velvety or slightly metallic look.
- Underside
- Gills attached and fairly well spaced. Dark violet when young, becoming rusty brown as the spores mature.
- Stem
- Dark violet, fibrous, and club-shaped or swollen at the base. Young specimens have a cobweb-like veil (cortina) between the cap edge and stem, which leaves rusty fibers on the stem.
- Flesh
- Dark violet to purple, fading paler. Smell documented as mild or faintly like cedar wood.
- Spore print
- Rusty brown.
- Size
- Cap 2 to 5 inches (5 to 12 cm); stem 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) tall.
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- On the ground in moist, mossy forests, forming partnerships with conifers such as hemlock, fir and spruce, and with hardwoods such as birch and beech. Often in old-growth stands.
- Grows on
- Soil, near the roots of host trees.
- Season
- Late summer through fall.
- Range
- Northern North America, from the Pacific Northwest across Canada to the Great Lakes and the Northeast. Most common in the Pacific Northwest.
Lookalikes
What the violet webcap gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Other purple Cortinarius species
Many Cortinarius species are lilac to violet, but most have a smooth or slimy cap rather than the violet webcap's fine scales. All share the cobweb veil and rusty brown spore print. Several species in the genus contain orellanine, a slow-acting kidney toxin.
EdibleAmethyst Deceiver
Laccaria amethystina
Much smaller and more slender, with thick, widely spaced gills, no cobweb veil, and a white spore print.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Lookalike
Field guides do not agree on the violet webcap. Some list it as edible, while most do not recommend any Cortinarius because the genus includes species that contain orellanine, a toxin that destroys the kidneys with symptoms delayed by days or weeks. Its own chemistry is not well documented in North American guides.
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
FAQ
Questions about the violet webcap
Is the violet webcap poisonous?
It is not known as a cause of serious poisoning, and some field guides list it as edible. Most guides do not recommend Cortinarius species at all, because the genus includes species with orellanine, a slow-acting kidney toxin.
How do you tell a violet webcap from a blewit?
The violet webcap is darker violet with a finely scaly cap, has a cobweb veil when young, and leaves a rusty brown spore print. The blewit is paler, smooth-capped, has no veil, and prints pale pinkish buff.
Where does the violet webcap grow?
On the ground in moist, mossy forests under conifers and hardwoods across northern North America. It is most common in old forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Cortinarius violaceus
MushroomExpert.com
- Cortinarius violaceus
Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia
- Cortinarius violaceus
MykoWeb, California Fungi
- Cortinarius violaceus
Index Fungorum
Also on Mushrooms.id
Related species
Lactarius indigo
Photo coming
Edible
Indigo Milk Cap
Lactarius indigo
Blue all over, and cut flesh bleeds blue milk that slowly turns green.
Cortinarius rubellus
Photo coming
Deadly
Deadly Webcap
Cortinarius rubellus
Orange-brown, pointed cap, rusty brown gills, and yellowish bands of veil on the stem, in mossy conifer woods.
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