Wine colored Marasimus

This beautiful West Coast mushroom is a decomposer of forest debris, found under conifers and hardwoods alike. Its cap and stem are purple-red when fresh (though less dramatic, browner specimens are not uncommon), and its well spaced gills are creamy. It is fairly large (for a Marasmius), and its finely velvety cap is often conical, making it seem more like a mycenoid mushroom. Under the microscope, however, it features funky "broom cells" on the cap surface and the edges of the gills, like many.. more