A small purple to lilac collybioid mushroom of litter and woody debris in the eastern and southern United States. The striate violet cap fades to grayish lilac, and the cap surface turns green to blue with KOH, a stronger reaction than most Gymnopus show. It often has an odd odor compared to gunpowder, garlic or radish.
Edibility unknown; not recommended. The taste is unpleasant. Similar purple mushrooms include Laccaria amethystina (thick gills, KOH turns cap brownish) and the lilac form of Inocybe geophylla, which has brown mature gills and a brown spore print and contains muscarine.
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Habitat
Saprobic on leaf or needle litter and woody debris; scattered, gregarious or in loose clusters. Summer and fall.
Distribution
Mainly the southeastern United States, from Florida north to Massachusetts and west to Missouri and Texas.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-2 cm, convex becoming nearly flat with an uplifted wavy margin; smooth, lined at the margin, sometimes nearly to the center; purple when young, fading to lilac or grayish lilac. Gills: narrowly attached or nearly free, close to nearly distant, reddish purple. Stem: 2-5 cm long, 1-3 mm thick, finely velvety with whitish fuzz, purplish above and drab grayish or yellowish lilac below. Flesh: thin, pale lilac. Odor: not distinctive or like gunpowder, garlic or radish. Taste: unpleasant. Chemical reaction: KOH green to blue on cap. Spore print: white. Spores: 6.5-8.5 x 3-4.5 µm, smooth, teardrop-shaped to ovoid, inamyloid.
