When John Springstead went hiking through the forest behind his house outside Bryson City last week, he stumbled across a pale blue wad of paper peaking through the leaves. He stooped down to retrieve it as any good Samaritan would and ended up unearthing an interesting ecological find.

“As I cleaned the pine needles away, I realized they were mushrooms,” Springstead said. “I cleaned off all the debris and they rose up in beautiful shape.”

Several days later, more of the same mushrooms appeared about 20 feet away.

Springstead looked the mushrooms up in a quick reference guide book, but the only blue mushrooms listed in the book were Blewitts. It wasn’t a perfect match, so Sprinstead kept probing until he identified the mushrooms as Indigo Milk Caps. They are edible, though Sprinstead refrained from trying them.

The mushrooms were found near Kirklands Creek above the Holly Springs Cemetery road.