Purple. In a world of brown mushrooms, the wood blewit stands out. The cap is striking purple to violet, five to ten centimetres across, smooth and sticky when wet. The gills are the same colour as the cap or slightly paler. The stem is thick and fibrous, with a bulbous base. The whole thing looks like something that belongs in a fairy tale, not on a compost heap. It has a faintly sweet, perfumed smell. Some people compare it to orange blossom. Others say it smells like frozen orange juice. Either way, it is distinctive. It grows in gardens and compost heaps, often in rings or groups. Common in urban areas throughout New Zealand. An introduced species, probably arriving in imported soil or compost, making itself at home in modified landscapes. Edible, but must be cooked thoroughly. Some people experience digestive upset even when cooked. The toxin is heat-labile, meaning cooking destroys it, but sensitivity varies. Try a small amount first. The purple colour fades with age to a brownish-purple. Catch it young, or miss the colour entirely. The Maori name is not recorded. Another introduced fungus, arriving without invitation, staying without apology. It should be distinguished from the poisonous look-alike Cortinarius species, which have rusty-brown spore prints and bulbous bases. The blewit has a pale pinkish-buff spore print. Take a spore print. Pinkish means blewit. Rusty means hospital. That is the wood blewit. Purple, edible, and easily confused with something that will make a person sick. A mushroom for the careful forager, the one who takes spore prints and checks the field guide twice.