Mycena pura

Description
Mushroom Identification
Look-Alikes
History
Synonyms and Varieties
Video

Description

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.

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

Mushroom Identification

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.
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.
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.
Flesh

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

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

White.
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.
Chemical Reactions

KOH negative or greenish yellow on cap surface.
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.

Look-Alikes

Mycena pelianthina

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

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

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

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

It is smaller and slender and has decurrent gills.
Mycena luteovariegata

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

History

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.

Synonyms and Varieties

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