Mycena purpureofusca

The species was first described as Agaricus purpureofuscus by American mycologist Charles Horton Peck in 1885. The type collection was made in Caroga, New York, from a moss-covered trunk of spruce. Pier Andrea Saccardo transferred it to Mycena in 1887, giving it the name by which it is currently known. William Alphonso Murrill moved it to Prunulus in 1916, but this genus has since been subsumed in Mycena. In 1879, Petter Karsten described a collection made in Scandinavia as Mycena atromarginata var. fuscopurpurea, but Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus later placed this in synonymy with M. purpureofusca. Another synonym, according to Maas Geesteranus, is Mycena sulcata, described by Josef Velenovský in 1920 from Czechoslovakia. Alexander H. Smith classified the species in section Calodontes, subsection Ciliatae of Mycena in his 1947 monograph on North American Mycena. Rolf Singer put it in the section Rubromarginata in his 1986 The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, a group characterized by having distinct red marginate gills. The specific epithet purpureofuscus combines the Latin words purpur (purple) and fusco (dark or dusky). It is commonly known as the "purple edge bonnet". ==Description==

The cap is conical to bell-shaped, flattening in age, and reaches a diameter of . The cap margin is usually bent inwards initially. The cap surface is initially covered with tiny white hairs, but later becomes smooth. It is slightly hygrophanous, and when moist, is slightly translucent, so that the outline of the gills underneath are apparent. Its color is dark purple in the center, fading to pale lilac at the margins; older specimens are purplish-gray. The flesh is thin and pliant, with a texture similar to cartilage. It is initially purplish-gray, becoming pale lilac to white in age. The odor is mild Mycena sanguinolenta – This smaller species also bleeds a reddish juice when injured. Its caps are usually under 1.5 cm across, much smaller than those of M. purpureofusca, and the coloration tends to be paler reddish-brown. It is typically found in conifer duff rather than on wood. ==Habitat and distribution==

The fruit bodies grow singly or in clusters on the decaying wood of conifers, In the UK, the fungus is commonly found in Caledonian pine woods, and it is considered an indicator species for that habitat type. ==Research==

The edibility of the mushroom is unknown. The species has been investigated for its potential to decolorize industrial dyes. These dyes, used in textile dyeing and printing processes, are difficult to degrade due to their highly structured organic compounds and pose a major environmental threat. The mycelium produces high levels of laccase, an oxidoreductase enzyme. Laccases are widely used in biotechnology and industry due to their ability to break down various recalcitrant compounds. M. purpureofusca laccase efficiently breaks down Remazol Brilliant Blue R, an industrially important dye that is frequently used as a starting material in the production of polymeric dyes. Strobilurin A has been isolated from the fruit bodies. Strobilurins have fungicidal activities and well known for their broad fungicidal spectrum, low toxicity against mammalian cells, and environmentally benign characteristics. ==References==