In Washington, we hiked in the Snoqualmie-Mt. Baker National Forest in the North Cascades, which was pretty much heaven for me in terms of the ecosystem and diversity of fungi.  One of the most striking species we came across had a cap of deep purple that had somewhat of a shimmer to it (perhaps from moisture on the tiny hairs?).  The rich, dark color was easy to overlook in the shadows of the trees, but was truly beautiful to behold.  As I was going through my new guidebook that I mentioned in the last post, I knew as soon as I flipped to the page that this is what I had seen.   Violet cort.  I also thought it funny that this species has been on my list for a while, as I was drawn to it in earlier research.  I really had no idea how much it would impact me to see it in person, but feel fortunate to have had the opportunity.  The bottom photo shows one of the mushrooms that I observed.  The setting is vastly different, but in November in Oklahoma, you work with what you can!

This structure was knitted as part of my 52 Forms of Fungi project.  Check out more of the forms from this project.