 |
Medium mushroom, 1-8 inches wide and 1-4 inches
tall. Cap dull purple or purplish brown when young, fading to
brown. Gills crowded, lilac, facding to buff or brown.
Stalk pale purplish, aging to brownish, thick, often bulging at base.
Grows on organic debris, alone or in small
clusters in the woods or in towns. Besides helping to rot the
debris, it sends out hyphae that attack, kill, and devour bacterial
colonies growing on the debris
Widely distributed in North America.
The lovely purple tones, fading to brown are good field characters, but
there are look alikes that it could be confused with.
The common name Blewit, is thought to be a corruption of "blue hat,"
and not an indication that the mushroom, or its finder, have messed up.
|
|