Because its bright amethyst coloration fades with age and weathering, it becomes difficult to identify, hence the common name "deceiver".

It is found mainly in Northern temperate zones, in deciduous and coniferous forests, though it is reported to occur in tropical Central and South America as well.

This species was first described in 1778 by well-known English botanist and apothecary William Hudson as Agaricus amethystinus, and later put into the genus Laccaria by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke.

Its present binomial places it in the genus Laccaria, with the specific epithet amethystina, a pairing first used by Cooke in 1884.

The sporocarp of L. amethysteo-occidentalis is on average larger than that of L. amethystina, and has a deeper purple coloration, that fades to vinaceous rather than brownish shades.

The spores of L. gomezii are similar to those of L. vinaceobrunnea and Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis, and it lacks the distinct pileipellis hyphae of L.

[14][15] Laccaria amethystina is a common species in most temperate zones of Europe (June–December),[2] Asia, Central, South, and eastern North America.

[4] It appears in late summer to early winter, and often with beech;[3] in Central and South America, it more commonly grows in association with oak.

[citation needed] While not inherently toxic, in soils that are polluted with arsenic, it can bioaccumulate a high concentration of that element.