Amethyst Deceiver

It's been a bumper year for Mushrooms and Toadstools and so I decided to take advantage of a pleasant sunny Saturday morning to go Fungus hunting in Hockeridge Wood near Berkhamsted, a mix of Coniferous plantation, Oak, Birch and Beech and an ideal habitat for Fungus. I was amazed at the sheer number of species on display, although many had been spoilt by the previous weeks heavy rain and were looking a bit faded and washed out. One of the first species that I came across was a large stand of Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria, a species I was hoping to photograph, but sadly they were well past their best and looking at rather tatty. There were many large and spectacular species on show but the one that captured my attention was the tiny and beautiful Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea, pushing up through the damp leaf litter. These tiny violet mushrooms are very easy to overlook, but are quite magical as they catch an occasional pool of dappled sunlight in the dark woodland shadows. Amethyst Deceivers can be seen all over the UK between August and November in a variety of moist woodland habitats, but are most often found near Beech trees. When wet the Amethyst Deceiver is a lovely deep violet and can be quite hard to spot in the dark leaf litter, but then becomes more visible as it dries and fades to a pale powdery lilac or white colour. Although edible they are apparently difficult to cook as tending to fall apart. I haven't eaten them myself as I am a completely paranoid about eating wild mushrooms!

Amythyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea