Sordid blewit - Lepista sordida
- The Foraging Course Company
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Edible mushroom - intermediate Season - autumn to winter Common names Sordid blewit, dirty blewit
Scientific name meaning: Lepista is Latin for goblet, and sordida is from the Latin sordidus, meaning foul or dirty
Habitat  The sordid blewit is found most often in leaf litter, on compost heaps containing leaf litter or in grassland near trees. |
Overall structure and growth  The sordid blewit is a fairly small saprobic fungus living on leaf litter or compost heaps. It can be found individually and in small groups, and has been reported to grow in rings. |
Cap  The thin-fleshed cap is violet, 3 to 8cm wide and turns tan brown from the centre as it ages or dries. It starts off convex, often with an umbo (bump) and flattens with age. The edge of the cap often ends up slightly wavy and depresses in the centre. |
Gills and spores  The gills are lilac in colour and fading to buff with age. They are either sinuate (attached to the stem at the very top of the gills but with a little notch before the attachment). The spore colour is pale-cream to pale-pink. |
Stem  The fibrous stem is lilac in colour and 0.5 to 0.8cm wide. It can reach 5 to 6cm tall and is downy. There is no stem ring/skirt and the base of the stem is very downy. |
Flesh, smell and taste  The flesh is lilac and browns with age. The smell and taste is perfumed or floral. |
Possible lookalikes  Could be confused with some webcap (Cortinarius) species, such as the one pictured. However, they often have a rust-brown spore deposit on their stems. Webcaps also lack a floral/perfumed smell. Lilac fibrecap (Inocybe lilacina) is a deadly poiosnous lookalike but this has buff gills that turn clay-brown with age. The wood blewit (Lepista nuda) is very similar but is also edible. |
Use as a food Must be cooked and can be used exactly as a cultivated mushroom. It has a strong fragrant flavour so works well with cream/cream substitutes Hazards This mushroom can grow on roadside grass verges where it can accumulate traffic-related toxins. It is advisable to avoid harvesting from the sides of busy roads
Use in herbal medicine and medicine None known
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known Importance to other species Provides food for a number of invertebrates and their larvae
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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