''Mycena urania'', commonly known as the violet bonnet, is a species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

in the family

Mycenaceae The Mycenaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. According to the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' (10th edition, 2008), the family contains 10 genera and 705 species. This is one of several families that were separated from the Tricholom ...

. First named ''Agaricua uranius'' in 1818 by Swedish mycologist

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

, it was assigned its current name in 1872 by the French naturalist Lucien Quélet.

Description

The cap is initially conic in shape, and expands to hemispheric in maturity, typically reaching in diameter.

Distribution

A rare species, the North American distribution of ''Mycena urania'' includes Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It has also been collected in the Scottish Cairngorms.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5938951

urania Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, he ...

Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries