Cortinarius purpurascens. Fr.
The Purplish Cortinarius. Edible.
Purpurascens means becoming purple or purplish; so named because the blue gills become purple when bruised.
The pileus is four to five inches broad, bay-brown, viscid, compact, wavy, spotted when old; often depressed at the margin, sometimes bending back; the flesh blue.
The gills are broadly notched, crowded, bluish-tan, then cinnamon-color, becoming purplish when bruised.
The stem is solid, bulbous, clothed with small fibres, blue, very compact, juicy; becoming purplish when rubbed. The spores are elliptical, 10–12×5–6µ.
This is one of the delicious mushrooms to eat, the stem cooking tender as readily as the caps. I found it in Tolerton's woods, Salem, Ohio, and in Poke Hollow near Chillicothe. September to November.
Cortinarius turmalis. Fr.
The Yellow-Tan Cortinarius. Edible.