Field Blewit, Lepista saeva

AKA: Clitocybe saeva (saeva means fierce, outrageous, angry or strong), Lepista personata (personata means disguised, pretended or false)

IDENTIFICATION:

The Field Blewit is a very variable mushroom in colour particularly.

SMELL: (a good identification feature since very distictive [1] but you will have to get used to the smell first by identifying the mushroom by other means)

Strong and pleasant, perfumed smell [1].

CAP (pileus) colour: (not a good identification feature on it's own)

Beige but drying paler (Collins Complete Guide shows the cap as almost brown as does wikipedia). Peter Jordan says 'Shiny buff which turns brown later'.

CAP form: (not a good identification feature on it's own)

Thick and fleshy, thick and chunky, flesh white and firm, flesh white or flesh coloured. The cap starts out convex, later flatter and can eventually become slightly depressed. 5-12cm diameter. Often rather irregular when growing in clumps [1].

GILLS (lamellae): (not a good identification feature on it's own)

'Whitish and crowded', 'grey-pink gills are sinuate and crowded', 'white to grey-pink', 'light beige'. 'Adnate [1]'. Wikipedia says they are free or emarginate and are cream to light brown with a pinkish tint.

SPORES: (not a good identification feature on it's own but coupled with cap, stipe and gill colour and form it is a good identification feature as far as either L. nuda or L. saeva. Atleast this is what I have gathered from the descriptions I have read ie I don't know this for CERTAIN)

Pale pink

STIPE: (not a good identification feature on it's own)

Streaked bright violet especially near base which is often swollen. No ring. 4-10cm in height, 15-25mm in width (Wikipedia says 25-30mm). Stout cylindrical with slightly swollen base. Whitish ground covered in course violet or blue fibrils.

SIMILAR SPECIES:
Cortinarius camphoratus - ? I think this has a rusty brown spore print ... I also think it is DEADLY.
Cortinarius pupurascens - Cobweb veil, sticky cap, flesh purple and smells fruity, rusty brown spores, POISONOUS/SUSPECT
Cortinarius pseudosalor - Sticky cap, rusty brown spores, POISONOUS/SUSPECT
Clitocybe nebularis (Clouded Agaric) - has grey cap and decurrent gills, also an edible species
Calocybe gambosa (St George's mushroom) - Grows at different time of year (April and onwards during spring I think), lacks violet stipe.

HABITAT: (not a good identification feature on it's own)

Grassland and at the edges of deciduous woodland, on gardens and at roadsides. Often in rings. In pastures in large rings.

EATING:

MUST be cooked before eating and can still disagree with some people. It contains trehalose (I can't remember whether this is the potentially disagreeable substance in it)

RECIPES:

In stews: Chop and add to stews to show off its great flavour, which also enhances game. toasted nuts and strongs cheese.

As tripe: Aromatic taste and jellyish texture are reminiscent of tripe. Remove stipes and chop up stipes finely with equal amount of onions and pack round the cap in a pan with chopped sage and bacon fat. Just cover with milk and simmer for 30 mins. Thicken with flour and butter. Simmer for 15 mins then season. Serve mixture inside a ring of mashed potatoes, with toast and apple sauce.

Omlette filling: Fry them up with onions and copped potato, use as an omlette filling.

I haven't definitely found these yet. I know I've found Lepista nuda (wood blewit) and they were good in the risotto a friend made (the risotto was good, couldn't specifically taste the blewits although I think they had turned even more purple!).

A short guide on L. nuda cultivation (L. saeva may be similar):

http://www.mycelia.be/myc8550.htm

References

[1]Paul Sterry - A Photographic Guide to Mushrooms of Britain and Europe (Copyright 1995: New Holland (Publishers) Ltd

[2] Paul Sterry and - Collins Complete Guide to Britains Mushrooms and Toadstools




Edible and Poisonous Fungi - The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries: