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Violet agaric in pine litter
Cortinarius or Laccaria Genus
Angles captured. One from above, then two low obliques showing the cap underside and stipe.
Morphology
Cap 3–4 cm, violet with a darker, slightly depressed centre, margin becoming wavy. Gills visibly violet-grey and moderately close. Stipe pale lilac-white, cylindrical.
Habitat & substrate
Deep white-pine needle litter with scattered oak leaves, level ground under conifer cover.
Lookalikes & what rules them out
Two genera stay in play. Laccaria amethystina and L. ochropurpurea have thick, widely spaced, waxy gills; Cortinarius has thinner, closer gills and a rusty spore print. Frames #4233, #4234 and #4243 show gills that are close and thin, with a distinctly pinkish-brown cast suggesting a rusty deposit — which points to Cortinarius.
To confirm this identification
One spore print settles the whole group. Rusty brown = Cortinarius, white = Laccaria. Because these six populations are almost certainly one species, a single print resolves all of them at once.
Found at Leominster State Forest, Leominster, MA on Thursday, 6 August 2026 at 10:38. See the full walk for that day's weather and everything else recorded.
Others in this group
Violet cortCortinarius sp. · Jul 31Moderate–high
Violet agarics on a red eroded bankCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agaric, collected and examinedCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agarics scattered on a hillsideCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agaric beside a mossy logCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agarics along a fallen logCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agarics on a mossy decaying logCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 8Moderate
Large violet agaric by a fallen logCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 8Moderate