Wood blewits

Recognising the wood blewit

The wood blewit (Lepista nuda) is one of the last mushrooms of the year:

• lilac to violet-brown cap, smooth, fleshy;
• violet gills, crowded, which separate easily from the flesh;
• violet, fibrous stem, with no ring or veil;
• pleasant fruity smell, pale pink spore print (not rust-coloured).

Look-alikes

Simple rule: never a cobweb-like veil under the cap, never rust-coloured gills, fruity smell. Small violet or lilac mushrooms with a thin stem are not wood blewits. Always have it checked if in doubt.

Habitat: where to look

The wood blewit has no host tree: it decomposes dead plant matter (leaves, twigs, needles). So it is found where litter builds up.

Which habitat

• Broadleaf and conifer woods alike, edges, hedgerows, parks.
• One variety grows rather outside woods, in meadows and pastures enriched by livestock.
• Heaps of leaves or compost also suit it.
• Ploughed land and built-up areas do not suit it.

Terrain and soil

• No precise altitude, aspect or acidity is established by the sources consulted (Sporalo does not take pH into account for it). Above all look for a thick layer of fresh, decomposing litter.

Microsites: where to look

• In the thickness of dead leaves, at the edge, at the foot of hedges, along tracks.
• In often numerous troops, frequently in circles (“fairy rings”) or lines: if you find one, look around.
• It comes up after the first cold weather, when many other mushrooms have finished.

Caution: other violet or lilac mushrooms, some of them toxic, can grow in the same kind of litter: the place alone is not enough to tell them apart, check every specimen (see “Look-alikes”).

Season and triggers

From autumn to early winter. It likes damp cold and tolerates the first frosts, unlike most species. It is always eaten well cooked.