Geastrum violaceum is a small but easy to recognize saprotrophic species, described in 1906 from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and it has been found almost exclusively in preserved areas from tropical to subtropical humid forest and some records are from flooded savannas and humid chaco. The distribution of the species is relatively large and it is estimated that it could be found in other subtropical or tropical humid forests throughout America. The few records of this species, despite searching in appropriate habitats in areas regularly studied by taxonomists suggest that the species is rare. It is not possible to infer population trends due to the limited number of records and the distance among of collections. The species is assessed as Data Deficient.

Current name: Geastrum violaceum Rick, Brotéria 5: 26 (1906)
Synonyms:
- Geastrum violaceus Rick (1906)
- Geastrum episcopale F. Kuhar & L. Papinutti, Mycologia 101 (4): 535 (2009)
- Geaster violaceus Rick (1906)

Geastrum violaceum is a small but easy to recognize saprotrophic species, described in 1906 from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and it has been found almost exclusively in preserved areas from tropical to subtropical humid forest and some records are from flooded savannas and humid chaco. The distribution of the species is relatively large and it is estimated that it could be found in other subtropical or tropical humid forests throughout America. The few records of this species, despite searching in appropriate habitats in areas regularly studied by taxonomists suggest that the species is rare. It is not possible to infer population trends due to the limited number of records and the distance of the collections.

The species is currently known from Argentina, Brazil, México and Paraguay. It has been found mainly on national parks in the Atlantic Forest domain (Brazil and Paraguay), flooded savannas in transition with Atlantic Forest, and Chaco Ecoregions (Argentina), and some records from Mexico correspond to protected areas and one record from the side of a road that goes through a protected area (Bautista-Hernández et al., 2015).

The species is known from Argentina, Brazil, México and Paraguay. Most records belong to protected areas, therefore the species could rely on the quality of the habitat. Despite being widely distributed the species is considered rare and appears to have a disjuncted distribution. Moreover, the lack of collections and data about the species hinders the estimation of population parameters, and thus it is not possible to determine the size of the population.

Geastum violaceum is a saprofitic small species that grows in small groups preferably in subtropical or tropical humid forest (Campi et al., 2013; Sousa et al., 2014; Bautista-Hernández et al., 2015), but it has also been found in dry habitats such as the Dry forest in Argentina and Mexico (Hernández-Caffot et al., 2014; Bautista-Hernández et al, 2015) or Caatinga in Brazil (Sousa et al., 2014). It is easy to recognize in the field due to its pinkish, purplish to violet color. Most records correspond to protected areas therefore it could be inferred that the species requirements include pristine areas.

The treats to the species are similar throughout its distribution: deforestation in humid tropical, subtropical forest of Brazil and Paraguay or temperate rainforest of Mexico; for dry ecoregions like the chaco in Argentina or Caatinga in Brazil the desertification due to cattle farming, wild fires, and climate change, along with high rates of deforestation threaten the species.

The main action to preserve the species is the protection of its known habitat, especially the pristine areas, considering that the species seems to rely on well preserved and undisturbed habitats. Ex situ conservation if viable should be performed to preserve the genetic diversity of the species.

Further investigation including more samples is necessary to better understand the species distribution and ecology and to calculate population trends.

No use/trade is known.