These beautiful little mushrooms must be called “deceivers” because their bright purpleness probably screams “poisonous” or at least ” hallucinogenic” but, of course, they are neither. In fact, they are tasty and delightful, raw or cooked.

Start looking for these now in the leaf mould at the base of beech trees and chestnuts, but also keep an eye open for them in coniferous woodland. The very distinctive purple colour is instantly recognisable but not as easy to spot among fallen leaves. Where they do grow they are likely to be fairly abundant (growing in troops) and recurrent throughout the season; but I have rarely had luck with them in the same place for more than a year.

The Amethyst Deceiver is a small mushroom, the largest specimens being up to 2 inches accross. As they get older, they will become paler and it is best, as with all mushrooms, to try and go for younger and firmer examples for cooking. These mushrooms also need to be well cleaned before they are cooked as a lot of matter can get caught in their broad gills.

A very similar close cousin of the Amethyst Deceiver is also tasty and useful and called simply “The Deceiver”. It has all the characteristics of its lilac relative but is a red-brown colour. I recommend becoming familiar with the Amethyst Deceiver before adding the Deceiver to your foraging repertoire because the latter has more deceptive look-alikes.

Before heading out to pick mushrooms please remember the GOLDEN RULE of only eating what you are 100% sure of identifying correctly. You will need at least one very good illustrated mushroom guide to do this and preferably someone who knows what they are doing to supervise. Please read my last Foraging Friday post on Saffron Milk Caps for more advice or consult my article on Picking and Identifying Edible Mushrooms for some good guidelines. I won’t be held liable for any reader who poisons themselves.

Having said that, please enjoy wild mushrooms responsibly and I would encourage anyone to step out into the woods this weekend and discover what nature has to offer.

Related Articles

• How to pick wild mushrooms (guardian.co.uk)
• Foodies Forage To Connect With Nature (huffingtonpost.com)