Clitocybe nuda, Mushroom
Clitocybe nuda is an edible mushroom commonly known as wood blewit. It is found growing on decaying leaf litter in coniferous and deciduous woodlands in Europe and North America. Fruiting period is from late summer to Autumn, and over-winter in warm climates. Clitocybe nuda is a mushroom with lilac to purple pink, and a distinctive odor, somewhat like a frozen orange juice. Some North American species are duller and towards brown, but usually have purplish tones on the stems and gills. Wood blewits is easily recognized when fresh and young, but older specimens can be confused with certain purple Cortinarius species, many of which are poisonous. The purple or lilac color of the cap, gills and stem fade quickly, with the cap turning brownish, and the gills and stems fade to buff. This color transformation is one of the distinguishing features of the mushroom, apart from the odor and spore print. Wood blewits have light (white to pale pink) spore print; while Cortinarius species have rusty brown spore print. Wood blewit has thick, soft, whitish, purplish or lilac buff flesh. It is better to eat it cooked than raw. It can be made into a cream sauce or sauteed in butter. However it may cause allergic reactions in some sensitive individuals.  Clitocybe nuda Author: Dan Molter (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0-unported) | ||
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