This edible but rather bitter tasting (meaning inedible to some) Wood Blewit look-a-like can usually be differentiated by having some of the cortina or ‘web’ still covering the gills or an orange/brown band on the stem caused by the spores sticking to the base of what’s left of the cortina.
6-10cm. Has a lilac/purple fibrillose cap that turns brown with age although the cap can appear brown when young.
The flesh starts white to lilac but can bruise to darker or brown when the flesh is exposed for a short time.
When young the gills are covered by a spider web like structure called a cortina which soon breaks up and can be completely absent on older mushrooms. Under the cortina the gills are fairly thick and start lilac/purple turning to orange/brown when covered in spores. Not too crowded an emarginate, joined to the stem but notched slightly beforehand.
Rusty orange/brown. Ellipsoid to almond shaped.
7-10cm long, 1.5-3cm wide. The stem has a swollen base and is lilac to purple. When older the stem usually has an orange band around it caused by the spores sticking to what is left of the cortina where it was joined to the stem.
