Mycena pura (Fries) Quélet
Champ. Jura et Vosges, p. 103. 1872.

Common Name: none

• Pileus

  Cap 1.5-4.5 cm broad, conic, then convex, finally nearly plane with a low umbo, margin striate, sometimes upturned in age; surface smooth, moist, hygrophanous, color varying from purple, lilac, greyish-lilac, rose, pinkish-grey to nearly white, fading in age; flesh thin, pale lilac; taste and odor mildly of radish.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnexed, close, moderately broad, intervenose, colored like the cap but lighter, e.g. dingy-buff-lilac when young to pinkish-buff in age, edges paler than the faces.

• Stipe

  Stipe 2-6 cm tall, 0.2-.7 cm thick, hollow, fragile, equal or tapering to an enlarged base, the latter hairy; surface pruinose at the apex, otherwise smooth, concolorous with the cap, e.g. lilac fading to pinkish-lilac in age; veil absent.

• Spores

  Spores 6-8.5 x 3-4 µm, smooth, elliptical, amyloid; spore print white.

• Habitat

  Single to scattered in mixed hardwood/conifer woods; fruiting from late fall to late winter.

• Edibility

  Questionable. Reported as edible, at least in small amounts, but too unsubstantial to collect for the table.

• Comments

  This Mycena is not only large for the genus but also attractive with a pleasing usually lilac-colored, striate-margined cap. Other identifying characters are the gills which are lighter than the cap and have pallid edges, a hollow, fragile stipe, and a radish-like odor and taste. Mycena pura is one of several purple-colored mushrooms in the Bay Area. It is most likely to be confused with Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina, but that species lacks a striate margin, has a green corn odor and brown spores. Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis is a larger mushroom, more distinctly purple when fresh and has a fibrous, not smooth stipe. Finally, there is Clitocybe nuda and several lilac-colored Cortinarius species, but these are significantly more robust.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Mark Steinmetz: Mycena pura (CP)
  • Mark Steinmetz: Mycena pura (CP)
  • Nathan Wilson: Mycena pura (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Mycena pura (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Mycena pura
  • Na Grzyby: Mycena pura (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Mycena pura (D & CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Mycena pura (CP)
  • Ammirati et al.: p. 289 (D), fig. 148 (I), fig. 212 (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 230 (D & P)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 3): sp. 358 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 179 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 784 (D), plate 104 (CP)
  • McKenny et al.: p. 89 (D), p. 90 (CP)
  • Miller: sp. 147 (D & CP)
  • Phillips: p. 80 (D & CP)
  • Smith (1947): p. 187 (D)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)