About this fungus
Bruising Webcap is a fungus in the Cortinariaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A stout woodland webcap with a sticky ochre-brown to violet-brown cap, violet young gills and a swollen stem base. Freshly cut or bruised flesh develops a stronger purple colour.
What to check
Check for violet young gills that mature to rusty brown, a rust-brown spore print, purple staining in the gills and stem flesh, a sticky cap when wet, and a stout stem with a swollen or bulbous base. Young mushrooms may show a fine cobweb-like cortina, but this can disappear with age.
Variation
Violet colours are strongest on young, fresh mushrooms and can fade as the cap dries and the rusty spores mature. Older specimens may look mostly ochre-brown, while the purple bruising reaction can remain more noticeable in cut stem flesh.
Lookalikes
The Purpurascens group contains several extremely similar species, and a confident species-level identification may require microscopy, ecology and DNA evidence. Cortinarius violaceus is usually much more uniformly deep violet and has a dry, finely scaly cap. A brown spore print and cortina help separate this from the Wood Blewit, but they do not distinguish it from other webcaps.
Habitat and range
A mycorrhizal woodland fungus. European records are especially associated with oak and beech in broadleaved or mixed woodland. Reports under conifers in North America may include a similar but different species, so habitat should be interpreted with region in mind.
Food safety
Inedible.
Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: