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Hi,

I have a ring of purple mushrooms growing in my back garden. I have examined them very carefully and they seem to match almost all of the wood blewit identification points - can you help me identify them?

Matching features:
- similarly lilac all over, though the caps of the larger ones are more brown
- growing in a fairy ring
- growing in grass in my back garden (in Sheffield)
- have sinuate gills
- showed a faint white spore print on white paper
- gills detached from the cap fairly easily
- fairly wavy caps when older
- stem is covered by lilac fibrils
- top of cap was somewhat gelatinous when wet
- become lighter when dry
- flesh is lightly tinged violet
- in season

Questionable features:
- don't really swell at the base of the stem
- don't smell of anything
- seem quite delicate and slender

Thanks very much!

Nancy

Yep, certainly look like blewies alright. Stick them in a bag and have a really good sniff, they should smell fragrant with a hint of chalk (a smell you should remember). To avoid confusing them with the belly-acher, cortinarius purpurascens, watch out on young samples that they don't have a cobweb like veil over the gills.

Agreed. Looks like wood blewits to me. I have some for my tea :)