Also written Clitocybe laccata amethystina Sacc.
“In my opinion it is a good species and should be kept distinct as Bolton gave it, and not be tacked on to C. laccata as a variety. I should write it Clitocybe amethystina Bolt.” Peck, letter September 17, 1897.
New York, Peck, Rep. 41; New Jersey, Sterling; Mt. Gretna, Pa., on wood soil, June to frost, 1897–1898, McIlvaine.
Generally included in C. laccata as a variety, and has therefore been reported under that name.
Great quantities of C. amethystina grew in troops on beds made up of wood earth about the cottages at Mt. Gretna, Pa. The woods over them is dense.
The caps are tough, but they cook readily and make a pleasing dish.
C. tor´tilis Bolt.—tortilis, twisted. Pileus membranaceous, convexo-plane then depressed, obscurely marked with radiating striæ. Stem hollow, twisted, fragile. Gills adnate, thick, distant, fleshy-rose, cespitose, small, irregular, pileus and stem rusty in color.
Hard ground in an old road. Sandlake. August. A species closely allied to C. laccata and appearing like an irregular dwarf form of that species. Sometimes cespitose. Peck, 41st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Excepting that this fungus is frequently found with C. laccata, and might be taken for a new species if not here described, it would not be separated from C. laccata.
Its edible qualities are similar.