page_title: Cortinarius violaceus
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Cortinarius violaceus / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Cortinarius violaceus
context_page_description: Cortinarius violaceus, commonly known as the violet webcap or violet cort, is a fungus in the webcap genus Cortinarius native across the Northern Hemisphere. The fruit bodies are dark purple mushrooms with caps up to 15 cm across, sporting gills underneath. The stalk measures 6 to 12 centimetres by 1 to 2 centimetres, sometimes with a thicker base. The dark flesh has a smell reminiscent of cedar wood. Forming symbiotic relationships with the roots of various plant species, C. violaceus is found predominantly in conifer forests in North America and deciduous forests in Europe.
  Though they are sometimes described as edible, the appearance of these mushrooms is more distinctive than their taste. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and has undergone several name changes. It is the type species of the genus Cortinarius, but is readily distinguished from other species in the genus by its dark colouration and distinct cystidia. There are some populations that seem to prefer deciduous trees and others that prefer pines, but no genetic divergence between the two has been found.
context_section_description: Cortinarius violaceus is found across North America, Europe and Asia. Although widespread, it is not common anywhere in Europe, and it is listed as endangered in the British Isles. Cortinarius violaceus is a rare component of subarctic areas of western Greenland. It has not been recorded from Iceland.
  In Europe, it grows in deciduous woodland during autumn, especially among oak, birch and beech, but is also found on occasion with conifers. It is also occasionally known from treeless heathland, where it is associated with bracken. The species favours acidic soil. Cortinarius violaceus forms mycorrhizal associations with several species of tree. In this symbiotic relationship, the fungus gains carbon from the plant and supplies it with beneficial minerals. In Nordic countries, its hosts include white birch (Betula pubescens), silver birch (B. pendula), European aspen (Populus tremula) and rarely European beech (Fagus sylvatica). No records of association with oak (Quercus) are known from this region. Brandrud reported that what he described as spp. hercynicus grew with Picea abies, generally in more alkaline soils and along with mosses of the genera Hylocomium and Pleurozium, and, in moister areas, big shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus), as well as the buttercup-family shrub Hepatica nobilis. The species grows with Betula pubescens in Greenland, and is also associated with hazelnut (Corylus avellana) in Central and Southern Europe.
  In North America, C. violaceus favours conifers, and, though rare over much of the continent, is relatively common in certain areas, including Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park. It is more common in old growth forest in the Pacific Northwest, though has sprung up in regrowth areas populated with fir, pine, aspen and alder in the Great Lakes region. Fruit bodies occur singly or in small groups, often near rotting wood, and can grow in fairy rings. Closely related species that look like C. violaceus can be found in Central and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Malaysia.
caption: Younger specimens, highlighting scaled cap
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX100V", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2013:09:17 01:25:20", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ImageDescription": "", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-HX100V", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2013:09:17 01:25:20", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "13520", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "17303", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:09:17 01:25:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:09:17 01:25:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "8127/1280", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2484", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1863", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "13242", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24/5, 144, 14/5, 28/5]"}