Field Blewit - Lepista (clitocybe) saeva

Medium sized whitish capped mushroom, its most distinguishing feature is its purple stem.

Habitat
Grasslands, sometimes in open wood;and, preferring limestone or chalk soils. Often in growing in rings.

Identification features

Cap
Smooth pale brown to cream coloured cap that can look like it has a transparent film on the top showing the colour underneath, dome shaped when young with a slightly enrolled rim, with age it flattens

Stem

Gills
gills are a pale violet colour, crowded and sinuate (notched before attaching to the stem).

Smell
This mushroom has a slightly perfumy smell.

Spore print
Pale pinkish brown.

Known Hazards
Can cause gastric upset if not cooked

Look a likes
Violet webcap which has a cortina (web like veil) which mostly disappears at maturity but where it attaches to the stem the fine threads catch the spores and you can sometimes see a rusty brown ring. The spores are rusty brown and this is your big difference.

Edible Uses
Cooked well this mushroom is delicious, going well with pasta, soups, stews etc. It has a lovely nutty flavour.