5/12/2024 0 Comments Amethyst mushroom![]() The surface of the cap is smooth at first, later becoming roughened as it breaks to form soft, somewhat powdery scales. When young, the caps are convex or dome-shaped, but as they age they become flattened or depressed in the center with upturned edges, resembling a shallow funnel. Additionally, only the caps of Laccaria amethystina can be employed while cooking as their stems are tough and inedible.Īs mentioned, the Laccaria genus, including Laccaria amethystina, is hygrophanous and can be quite variable in appearance depending on the age of the mushroom as well as the weather conditions.Ĭap: The cap is 2-7cm(0.8-2.7in) in diameter. Although they are not frequently used in dishes because it takes rather a lot of them to make a good meal, and they are often quite small and tedious to collect in adequate quantities. The Laccaria genus of tallogill mushrooms are edible, including the Laccaria amethystina. It was not until 1884 that the Amethyst Deceiver was reclassified into its current genus by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, a famous British mycologist. Hudson named the mushroom Agaricus amethystinus, as most gilled mushrooms in the early days of fungal taxonomy belonged to the Agaricus genus. The first known description of the Amethyst Deceiver occurred in 1778 by the English botanist William Hudson. The designation amethystina in Laccaria amethystina refers to the violet( amethyst) coloring of the fresh cap of this tallogill mushroom. Furthermore, the similarity is so great that the Laccaria amethystina was once even thought to be a mere variant of Laccaria laccata. To make things even more “deceiving”, Laccaria amethystina and Laccaria laccata favor similar habitats, and are often found growing next to each other in small clusters. ![]() However, the epithet “deceiver” is more appropriately linked with its cousin Laccaria laccata, which is a highly variable and deceptive mushroom. This hygrophanous ability of the Laccaria amethystina has earned it its common name of the “amethyst deceiver”. The term hygrophanous refers to the ability of a mushroom to change its color as it ages, sometimes making it difficult to identify. ![]() Laccaria amethystina is a tallogill of the genus Laccaria, which is a family of small to medium hygrophanous mushrooms.
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