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Amethyst Deceiver!


The little purple one was the edible and rather delicious Amethyst Deceiver. The River Cottage handbook claims that they are generic, "filler" mushrooms. I don't agree. They are a bit tough and chewy but that was a good thing.

I spent ages poring over these little lilac beauties thinking they might be Lilac Fibrecaps, in which case a very nasty dose of pretty much everything was in store.

They are called Deceivers because they have a near relative that is edible but takes on a thousand forms, making it very tricky to recognise.

Happily the story ends well with me having a nice purple treat and a full tummy.

The one in the background was Charcoal buirner (Russula cyanoxantha) or simliar, but it turned out to be full of little mushroom grubs. All the other mushies we brought home were poisonous - or couldn't be identified but were similar to known poisonous ones.
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  1. Anonymous11:32 am

    I agree with you on the chewiness of Amethyst Deceivers, I've been eating them from Ashdown Forest for the past 4-5 years, and they are a little chewy, but very tasty and I find the chewyness quite satisfying cos it's like eating a bit of meat.

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  2. spider2:31 pm

    yes i felt the same, a nice meaty texture that made you feel satisfied even though they are only little. Like chewing dried meat.

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