Purple cobweb (in Latin - Cortinarius violaceus) is a very rare and interesting mushroom with an unusual color, due to which it got a part of its name. In the people it is called the podolotnik violet. In Belarus, the mushroom is called a fat woman. The cobweb violet is edible - its taste is rated as average. You can eat it in boiled, pickled, salted, fried and even fresh form, although it is rarely tasted. The first and second dishes are prepared from the bog. Connoisseurs love this mushroom very much and consider it a great delicacy.
Description and morphological features
The purple cobweb has a finely scaly, pillow-shaped, radially fibrous hat, the diameter of which can reach 15 cm. Its edges can be bent down or simply lowered, in maturity it becomes flat. The color of the hat is dark purple. Its flesh is thick, slightly bluish, soft, with a faint aroma of cedar wood or oil. May fade to white. Her taste is nutty. The plates are dark purple (a rusty brown coating appears over time), descending along the leg, rare. The fungal spores are unequal, widely ellipsoid, warty. Their powder has a rusty brown tint. The leg is dark purple, dense, at the base there is a tuberous swelling. On it there are traces of belts of a webbed bedspread. It can grow 16 cm in length. The diameter is 1.5-2 cm. A purple cobweb has a very interesting appearance. A photo of him can be seen in this article.
Habitat and distribution
Marshmallow is a very rare edible fungus that grows in small groups, but more often singly. Since purple cobweb does not differ in too high productivity, it was listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. This fungus bears fruit only under strictly defined conditions. This macromycete is mycorrhizal. The cobweb violet has a symbiotic relationship with deciduous and coniferous tree species: pine, birch, spruce, beech, oak. Therefore, it can be found in all types of forests where they grow, although this mushroom is rare. Macromycetes can also be found in raw birch forests and in the presence of hornbeam. Fruits the cobweb violet from August to October. He prefers humic, acidic soils, grows on a litter of fallen leaves, on mossy soils at the edges of sphagnum bogs. Thanks to the latter, macromycete also got its popular name "bog." The fungus grows throughout the Russian Federation, in European countries, in North America, as well as in New Guinea and on the islands of Borneo.
Similar species
A very interesting and exotic appearance is spiderwebs. A photo of them is a confirmation of this. Most interestingly, these macromycetes are rarely similar to other varieties of cobwebs. However, there are a number of exceptions. The mushroom can be confused with the goat's cobweb, which, although inedible, is not dangerous. It occurs in the lower tiers of mountains and coniferous forests and has a strong unpleasant odor. The marshland is also a bit like a camphor web, which is also inedible.
