Blewit

Lepista nuda

Edible when cooked

Also called wood blewit, clitocybe nuda, collybia nuda.

The blewit is a lilac to purple-tinged mushroom of leaf litter, compost and mulch that fruits late in the fall. It is easiest to confuse with purple Cortinarius species, which have a cobweb veil and a rusty brown spore print.

A blewit with a lilac cap and a pale lilac stem growing among dead leaves and grass

The tell

Lilac to purple gills and stem, no cobweb veil, and a pale pinkish-buff spore print.

Field marks

What to look at

Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.

Cap
Convex, flattening and often wavy with age, 2 to 6 inches across. Lilac to purple when fresh, fading to tan, grayish or brownish. Smooth and slightly moist, with an inrolled edge when young.
Underside
Gills attached or notched at the stem, crowded. Lilac to purple, fading to buff with age.
Stem
Thick and fibrous, lilac to purplish, often with a swollen base covered in purple mycelium. No ring and no cobweb veil at any age.
Flesh
Thick, pale lilac to whitish. Smell often described as fragrant or fruity.
Spore print
Pale pinkish buff.
Size
Cap 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm); stem 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 8 cm) tall.

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
In leaf litter and needle duff under hardwoods and conifers, and in compost piles, gardens, mulch and grassy areas near trees. Often in rings or arcs.
Grows on
Decaying leaves, needles, compost and other organic debris.
Season
Fall into early winter, and through winter in California.
Range
Throughout North America.

Lookalikes

What the blewit gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

  1. Purple Cortinarius species

    Many Cortinarius species are lilac to violet. Young ones have a cobweb-like veil between the cap edge and stem, which leaves rusty fibers on the stem, and their spore print is rusty brown. Some contain orellanine, a kidney toxin.

Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible when cooked

Field guides list the blewit as edible when cooked and record stomach upset when it is eaten raw. Guides use the spore print to separate it from purple Cortinarius species, which print rusty brown and include species with the kidney toxin orellanine.

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

FAQ

Questions about the blewit

How do you tell a blewit from a Cortinarius?

By spore print and veil. Blewits leave a pale pinkish-buff spore print and never have a cobweb veil. Cortinarius species leave a rusty brown print, and young ones have a cobweb-like veil that leaves rusty fibers on the stem.

Are blewits poisonous?

Field guides list them as edible when cooked. They record stomach upset when blewits are eaten raw, and the main risk is confusion with purple Cortinarius species.

When and where do blewits grow?

Late in the fall and into early winter, in leaf litter, needle duff, compost piles, mulch and gardens. They often grow in rings or arcs and keep fruiting after the first frosts.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Clitocybe nuda

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Blewit

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  3. Lepista nuda

    Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia

  4. Lepista nuda

    Index Fungorum

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