Clitocybe nuda (Fries) Bigelow & Smith
Brittonia 21: 165. 1969.

Common Name: Blewit

Synonym: Lepista nuda (Bullard:Fries) Cooke

• Pileus

  Cap 4-14 cm broad, convex, becoming nearly plane in age, margin inrolled, wavy, sometimes upturned at maturity; surface smooth, moist, violet to lilac, fading to tan; flesh soft, pale-lilac; odor fragrant, taste mild.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnexed, notched to subdecurrent, close, moderately broad, violet to lilac, fading in age to tan or light-brown.

• Stipe

  Stipe 3-6.5 cm long, 1-2.5 cm thick, equal to enlarged or bulbous at the base, the latter frequently with adhering lilac to purple mycelium; surface fibrillose to slightly scaly, colored like the cap, veil lacking.

• Spores

  Spores 6-8 x 4-5 µm, elliptical, minutely roughened; spore print pale pinkish-buff.

• Habitat

  Fruiting singly, gregariously, or in fairy rings under a variety of hardwoods and conifers; appearing from late fall to mid-winter; depauperate fruitings are occasionally seen along the coast during the summer, the result of fog drip.

• Edibility

  Edible and considered good by many, but lacking somewhat in texture. Local material varies greatly in it's taste, from quite good to very poor. Known to cause gastrointestinal upsets if eaten raw.

• Comments

  Clitocybe nuda is probably the Bay Area's most common edible mushroom fruiting abundantly in urban parks and to a lesser extent in natural habitats. It is recognized by a purple to lilac, smooth, almost waxy, wavy-margined cap which fades to tan, the lack of a veil, a faint fragrant odor, and pale pinkish-buff spore print. Lilac-colored mycelium is often found at the base of blewits. Those collecting for the table should be aware of several other lilac to purple mushrooms that occur locally: Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis which can be told by its distinctly fibrous stipe, Mycena pura, a smaller mushroom with a striate cap margin and white spores, and Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina, also a small mushroom, which has brown spores and a green-corn odor. In addition, there are several violet to lilac-colored Cortinarius species, but all of these have a cob-web type of veil and rusty-brown spores.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Michael Boom: Clitocybe nuda (CP) -- mature sporocarps
  • Tom Duffy: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Bill Freedman: Fairy ring of blewits (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Nathan Wilson: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clitocybe nuda (CP)
  • Boleslaw Kuznik -- Hunting for Mushrooms: Lepista nuda (CP)
  • Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month: Clitocybe nuda (D & CP)
  • Il Mondo dei Funghi: Lepista nuda (D & CP)
  • Na Grzyby: Lepista nuda (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Lepista nuda (D & CP)
  • Svampbok: Lepista nuda (D & CP)
  • Robert Rich: Clitocybe nuda (D & CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Lepista nuda
  • Arora (1986): p. 153 (D), plate 32 (CP)
  • Arora (1991): p. 54 (D & CP)
  • Breitenbach & KrΣnzlin (v. 3): sp. 247 (D, I, & CP) [as Lepista nuda]
  • Fischer & Bessette: p. 59 (D & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 160 (D & CP) [as Lepista nuda]
  • Lincoff: p. 749 (D), plate 346 (CP)
  • McKenny et al.: p. 81 (D & CP) [as Lepista nuda]
  • Miller: sp. 128 (D & CP)
  • Phillips: p. 134 (D), p. 135 (CP) [as Lepista nuda]
  • Smith: sp. 69 (D & CP)
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 103 (D & CP)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)