Mycena pura

What You Should Know

Mycena pura, also known as Poison Radish Ground Mycena, is a small or medium-sized mushroom that grows in many different colors, often with purple tints, and has a radish-like smell. It is typically found in wooded and open habitats with rich soil. The cap can be convex, flat, or bell-shaped, and is usually lilac to purple when young but can change color with age. The gills are whitish or pinkish and develop cross-veins with maturity. The stem is equal, hollow, and usually the same color as the cap. The mushroom has no ring.

This beautiful mushroom is widely distributed across North America and is found decomposing forest litter under conifers or sometimes hardwoods. Although it has a radish-like smell and taste, it should not be eaten as it contains a small amount of the poison muscarine. There is no evidence to suggest that Mycena pura has hallucinogenic properties.

Mycena pura has a chemical called puraquinonic acid, which can make certain types of cells in mammals differentiate into granulocyte- or macrophage-like cells. The fungus also has the mycotoxin muscarine and an antifungal substance called strobilurin D, which was previously found in Cyphellopsis anomala.

Other names: Lilac Bonnet, Lilac Bellcap, Poison Radish Ground Mycena, German (Gemeiner Rettichhelmling), Netherlands (Gewoon elfenschermpje).

Mycena pura Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   The cap is 0.79 to 2.36 inches (2 to 6 cm) in size and can be either convex or bell-shaped, becoming flattened with a lined margin. It is bald and can be moist or dry, often exhibiting shades of lilac to purple when young, but can fade or develop other colors such as whitish, yellowish, pinkish brown, or reddish.

2. Gills

   The gills are attached to the stem by a tooth and can be either close or nearly distant. They are whitish or sometimes slightly pinkish to purplish in color, and develop cross-veins with maturity.

3. Stem

   The stem is 1.57 to 3.94 inches (4 to 10 cm) long and 0.08 to 0.24 inches (2 to 6 mm) thick, and is equal and hollow. It can be smooth or have tiny hairs and is usually whitish or flushed with the cap color.

4. Flesh

   The flesh is insubstantial, and watery grayish to whitish in color.

5. Odor and Taste

   It has a radish-like odor, and a strong radish-like taste.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Habitat

   It is widely distributed and grows on forest debris under both hardwoods and conifers. It can grow alone, scattered, or gregariously, and is terrestrial. It is typically found in spring, summer, and fall.

8. Chemical Reactions

   KOH negative or greenish yellow on cap surface.

9. Microscopic Features

   Spores 6-10 x 3-4 µ; long-elliptical or nearly cylindrical; faintly to moderately amyloid, or inamyloid when mature; smooth. Basidia 4-spored. Cheilo- and pleurocystidia rare to scattered or abundant; 40-70 x 10-20 µ; fusoid-ventricose, widely fusiform, or saccate.

Mycena pura Look-Alikes

1. Mycena pelianthina

   Has a gray-beige cap, dark blades, and black edges.

2. Mycena diosma

   Has a difficult to interpret odor, but no roe, and is more brightly colored.

3. Mycena rosea

   More robust and has a pink cap, while keeping a whitish stem, moreover it grows preferably under deciduous trees.

4. Mycena sororia

   The cap is more purplish, its stem is pinkish to purplish pink, and has larger spores.

5. Mycena pearsoniana

   It is smaller and slender and has decurrent gills.

6. Mycena luteovariegata

   Has a cap with yellow tones and smaller spores. Grows in mosses.

Mycena pura Taxonomy and Etymology

The original name for this species was established by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1794, who scientifically described it as Agaricus purus. However, in 1871, the German mycologist Paul Kummer reclassified this species under the genus Mycena, and it became known as Mycena pura, its currently accepted scientific name.

The specific epithet "pura" is derived from the Latin adjective "purum," meaning pure or clean.

Mycena pura Synonyms and Varietes

• Agaricus caesiellus Kalchbrenner (1867), Mathematikai és természettudományi közlemények, vonatkozólag a hazai vizsonyokra, 5, p. 222

• Agaricus dilutus Schumacher (1803), Enumeratio plantarum in partibus Saellandiae septentrionalis et orientalis, 2, p. 295

• Agaricus ianthinus Fr. 1821

• Agaricus incarnatus Relhan (1788), Flora cantabrigiensis, suppl. 2, p. 25

• Agaricus pseudopurus Cooke (1882), Grevillea, 10(56), p. 147

• Agaricus purpureus Bolton 1788

• Agaricus purus Persoon (1794), in Römer, Neues magazin für die botanik, 1, p. 101 (Basionyme) Sanctionnement : Fries (1821)

• Agaricus purus purpureus (Bolton) Pers. 1801

• Agaricus purus var. purpureus Pers. 1801

• Agaricus subcaeruleus Withering (1792), A botanical arrangement of British plants, Edn 2, 3, p. 356

• Gymnopus purus (Persoon) Gray (1821), A natural arrangement of British plants, 1, p. 608

• Gymnopus purus purpureus (Bolton) Gray 1821

• Gymnopus purus var. purus (Pers.) Gray 1821

• Mycena ianthina (Fr.) Gillet

• Mycena pseudopura (Cooke) Saccardo (1887), Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum, 5, p. 257

• Mycena pura forma alba (Gillet) Arnolds 1982

• Mycena pura forma ianthina (Fr.) Maas Geest. 1989

• Mycena pura forma lutea (Gillet) Arnolds 1982

• Mycena pura forma multicolor (Bres.) Kühner

• Mycena pura forma purpurea (Gillet) Maas Geest. 1989

• Mycena pura forma roseoviolacea (Gillet) Maas Geest. 1989

• Mycena pura forma violacea (Gillet) Maas Geest. 1989

• Mycena pura var. alba Gillet 1876

• Mycena pura var. carnea Rea 1922

• Mycena pura var. ianthina (Fr.) Gillet

• Mycena pura var. lutea Gillet 1876

• Mycena pura var. multicolor Bres. 1892

• Mycena pura var. pura (Pers.) P. Kumm. 1871

• Mycena pura var. purpurea Gillet 1876

• Mycena pura var. roseoviolacea Gillet 1874

• Mycena pura var. violacea Gillet 1876

• Mycena rosea ss. Velenovský (1920), Ceské houby, 2, p. 313

• Mycenula pura (Persoon) P. Karsten (1890) [1889], Meddelanden af societas pro fauna et flora fennica, 16, p. 89

• Poromycena pseudopuberula (Cooke) Singer (1945), Lloydia, 8, p. 219

• Prunulus purus (Persoon) Murrill (1916), North American flora, 9(5), p. 332

Mycena pura Video

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)

Photo 2 - Author: Syrio (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 3 - Author: bjoerns (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 4 - Author: Garrett Taylor (Public Domain)