page_title: Mycena purpureofusca
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Mycena purpureofusca / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: The gills of the agaric fungus Mycena purpureofusca (Peck) Sacc. Specimen photographed in Teague Hill Open Space Preserve, San Mateo Co., California, USA.
context_page_description: Mycena purpureofusca, commonly known as the purple edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First described by Charles Horton Peck in 1885, the species is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on the decaying wood and debris of conifers, including cones. Fruit bodies have conical to bell-shaped purple caps up to 2.5 cm set atop slender stipes up to 10 cm long. The mushroom is named for the characteristic dark greyish-purple color of its gill edges. In the field, M. purpureofusca mushrooms can usually be distinguished from similar species by characteristics such as the dark purple gill edges, the deep purple cap center, and its cartilagineous consistency. The fungus contains a laccase enzyme that has been investigated scientifically for its potential to detoxify recalcitrant industrial dyes used in textile dyeing and printing processes.
context_section_description: The cap is conical to bell-shaped, flattening in age, and reaches a diameter of 0.5–2.5 cm (0.2–1.0 in). The cap margin is usually bent inwards initially. The cap surface is initially covered with tiny white hairs, but later becomes smooth. It is slightly hygrophanous, and when moist, is slightly translucent, so that the outline of the gills underneath are apparent. Its color is dark purple in the center, fading to pale lilac at the margins; older specimens are purplish-gray.  The flesh is thin and pliant, with a texture similar to cartilage. It is initially purplish-gray, becoming pale lilac to white in age. The odor and taste of the flesh are not distinctive. The narrow gills have an ascending attachment to the stipe and are narrowly adnate. They are somewhat closely spaced, with pallid to grayish face color and dark grayish purple edges that are sometimes fringed. The tubular stipe measures 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) long by 1–2 mm thick. It is tough and cartilaginous, and its base it covered with white hairs. Overall, its color is that of the cap or paler, and often paler near the top. The edibility of the mushroom is unknown.
  Spores are broadly ellipsoid in shape, amyloid, and have dimensions of either 8–10 by 6–7 µm or 10–14 by 6.7–8.5 µm depending on whether they originated from four-or two-spored basidia (spore-bearing cells), respectively. There are abundant cheilocystidia on the gill edges. They measure 30–50 by 7–12 µm, and are fusoid-ventricose, with tips that are broadly rounded. They are filled with a purplish sap and have granular contents. The cap tissue comprises a well-differentiated cuticle, a distinct hypoderm, and a filamentous tramal body. Clamp connections in the hyphae are rare or absent.
caption: The gill edges are colored dark greyish-purple.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 60D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:20 00:50:18", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "202", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8230", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6933", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "16", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:02:19 14:23:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:02:19 14:23:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "43/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "100", "EXIF SubSecTime": "57", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "57", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "57", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2508", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2002", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8106", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}