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Violet cap with purple gills
Cortinarius sp. Genus
Angles captured. Four field frames including the underside in hand, three bench portraits, and the spore print on white and black card.
Morphology
Cap 2–3 cm, deep violet, smooth, convex with a low umbo. Gills distinctly purple, moderately close, adnexed. Stipe pale violet-white, slender, dry. Spore print rusty brown — small but unambiguous on both cards, reading pale orange-buff against the black.
Habitat & substrate
Leaf litter under mixed oak and pine near the trail, terrestrial.
Lookalikes & what rules them out
Purple gills with a rusty print close the usual violet argument before it starts: Laccaria prints white, the blewit pale pink, Inocybe a duller earth-brown. A violet cap and purple gills over a rusty deposit is a webcap, full stop. Species is another matter — the violet Cortinarius species of oak woods overlap heavily in the field.
To confirm this identification
Nothing for the genus — the print settled it. Species would need cap viscidity noted fresh, KOH, and realistically a sequence.
Notes
The first violet entry in the guide confirmed to genus by its own spore print. The twelve violet collections from other sites (TM0030 series) remain open pairs; this one shows what closes them.
Found at Walker Pond Rd area, Sturbridge, MA on Thursday, 20 August 2026 at 11:28. See the full walk for that day's weather and everything else recorded.
Others in this group
Violet cortCortinarius sp. · Jul 31Moderate
Violet agarics on a red eroded bankCortinarius or Laccaria · Aug 6Moderate
Violet agaric in pine litterCortinarius 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