Cortinarious

Found on Larch Mt.

Sava, said: "it is a Cortinarious

Arrow A in second picture shows pieces of cortina
those brown mostly vertical threads on the stem.
Their color is from the spores that stuck on them

In a blewit, gills would be purplish too.
I believe that purple Corts are much more likely to be found in the woods now than blewits.
Blewits are saprobes, growing typically on compost(-like) substrates.

Except for the Gypsy (Cortinarius/Rozites caperatus),
corts are not usually collected edibles.
Some species in that genus are deadly, but I don't know if they occur in this country.
Some are edible, for sure. C. ponderosus is an example
and I tried it at Arora's last year (was not impressed).

Perhaps no purple corts are dangerous.
Some smell bad though, and some are known to be edible.
But I know an OMS member who ate a purple cort thinking it was a blewit.
Nothing bad happened.



The above is not an encouragement to eat corts.
Just to say there is room for experimentation,
if you're interested in it.
But you need to do research and take responsibility for what you put in your mouth.

Click here for info on Blewits from
mushroom-collecting.com

Mushroom-collecting.com says:
"When the maitake and king bolete season starts to fade
it can seem like the exciting time of mushroom season is over.
If you persist in looking around the oaks and edges
you are likely to spot blewits...... When the nights start getting cold and approaching frost
temperatures the Blewits start to grow.
"

" There are other mushrooms that are lavender or purple.
Cortinarius species have a cobwebby veil.
All cortinarius species should be avoided.
Always. Entolomas (avoid) are likely to have thinner stems and a
salmon/rouge color spore print.
Other species may have brown spore prints and are more
likely to occur earlier in the season. Be sure to make a spore print.

"Blewits can be used for dyeing textiles or paper and will
yield a grass green color when cooked in an iron pot.