Amethyst Deceiver Gourmet Mushroom Culture

Laccaria amethystina, commonly known as the “amethyst deceiver”, is a small brightly colored mushroom, that grows in deciduous and coniferous forests. The mushroom itself is edible but can absorb arsenic from the soil. Because its bright amethyst coloration fades with age and weathering, it becomes difficult to identify, hence the common name “deceiver” The amethyst deceiver can be seen growing in broadleaved and coniferous woodlands among the leaf litter. It is edible, but is similar in appearance to the poisonous Lilac fibrecap; indeed, never pick and eat fungi that you can positively identify. Fungi belong to their own kingdom and get their nutrients and energy from organic matter, rather than photosynthesis like plants. It is often just the fruiting bodies, or ‘mushrooms’, that are visible to us, arising from an unseen network of tiny filaments called ‘hyphae’. These fruiting bodies produce spores for reproduction, although fungi can also reproduce asexually by fragmentation.
How to identify.  A fairly small toadstool, the amethyst deceiver is bright purple in color. It has lilac flesh, and the gills are attached to the stem, widely spaced and are deep purple. The stem is covered in tiny, white hairs.