Lepista nuda - Wood Blewit

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Lepista nuda, the Wood Blewit, grows in leaf litter in woodland and under hedgerows during autumn and winter, often fruiting well into December during reasonably mild weather.

Long after Field Mushrooms, Chanterelles and most other pupular edible fungi have all disappeared, Wood Blewits are still plentiful. They are edible if well cooked, but it is a wise precaution to try a very small portion at first because they have been known to disagree with some people.

Identification Guide

Care is needed to ensure that these edible mushrooms are not confused with some of the larger purple species of Cortinarius fungi. Cortinarius fungi all have rusty brown spores, so it is fairly easy to distinguish them from Lepista nuda.

	Cap The violet-tinged cap and gills of the young wood blewit, together with its stocky build, distinguish it from other purple or lilac coloured fungi. Often growing in fairy rings in mixed woodland, the caps mature at 6 to 15cm in diameter and retain a slightly inrolled margin until the violet tinge fades and the surface turn buff with mid brown centres. Old specimens sometimes develop wavy margins.
	Gills Sinuate and crowded, the gills have a beautiful lilac flush when young, turning buff and then brown as the fruiting body matures.
	Stem 15 to 25mm in diameter and 5 to 10cm tall, the non-tapering stipe is solid and
Spore print	Pale pinkish-buff.
Odour/taste	Faint aniseed odour and a pleasant taste.
Habitat	Mixed woodland.
Season	Most plentiful from August to December, but occasional fruiting bodies can emerge at any time of the year..
Occurrence	Common.
Similar species	Lepista saeva, the Field Blewit, is a less common species; it is very similar but lacks the violet tinge to the cap.