Hygrophorus purpurascens  (Alb. & Schwein.) Fr.         Collections: California and Idaho

This is one of the distinctly colored Hygrophori. The colors can vary a great deal in saturation -- from deep purplish to pale to completely white. In California this mushroom fruits both Fall and Spring. In the Spring it is a frequent member of the snowbank mycoflora. I have often wandered whether the autumnal and vernal species are the same as the coloration patterns differ -- the snowbank species tends to be wine to burgundy colored. Compare to Hygrophorus russula.

Fall fruitings

Snowbank fruiting