Russula amethystina is a conspicuous mushroom, which appears sporadically from mid-summer until the autumn under spruce and fir trees. In Northern Europe, it is very rare. It is edible, but not very easy to distinguish from similarly coloured Russula species, and practically identical to Russula turci from which it can only be distinguished by microscopic differences in spore texture. A mistake would not be very grave, however, since there are no deadly poisonous mushrooms in the genus Russula.